Summer Cold Cucumber Soup

After being away for nearly 3 weeks, I was greeted with a rainforest of a garden choke full of flowers, herbs, salad and more. What a wonderful surprise thanks to the abundance of rain this spring. Time for a big tub of cold cucumber soup that cries out for the tender garden herbs. I used this recipe as a starting point and liberally added my bumper crop of fresh herbs: tarragon, dill, chives, mint, parsley. What a delight!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large English cucumbers, cut into chunks (no need to remove skin or seeds), leaving half of cucumber to chop into fine pieces

• 1 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt

• 1 lemon, skin and juice reserved for use in soup

• 1/2 small purple onion

• 1-2 garlic cloves

• Fresh herbs (dill, tarragon leaves, parsley, mint leaves, chives), reserving chive blossoms for decoration

• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 generous pinch of hot pepper flakes

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

• In blender, combine all ingredients (except finely chopped cucumber and chive blossoms) and blend until smooth

• Adjust salt and pepper to taste

• Refrigerate overnight

• Top with chopped cucumber and chive blossoms, and drizzle with olive oil for serving