calories per portion ≈ 191 | price per portion ≈ 3.30 RM
Malaysia is hot. Nobody can argue with that. One of the best things you can do in extremely hot weather is eating something really refreshing! Especially if you've just had a good personal training session in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur! :) This chilled cucumber soup made with Greek yogurt and fresh herbs will definitely be something cool! Literally!
I found the original recipe on foodandwine.com and changed it slightly to match a more convenient shopping list. Most supermarkets in Malaysia for example sell 3 Japanese cucumbers together in the same pack, and I want to use them all minimising leftovers. You can eat the soup on its own or with bread or roti for example, but feel free to use it as a salad dressing to use up the leftover chicken shawarma.
Although you need to let it chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours after preparation, it doesn’t require cooking and it’s very easy and fast to make! Just throw the ingredients in the food processor and it’s ready in minutes!
You can keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days, and due to its versatility it’s prefect for weekday food prep as well! No cooking also means you preserve more nutritional content that otherwise would be lost during the cooking process.
Check out why this soup is a healthy choice for you!
Cucumbers are very low in calories (17 calories only in 142 grams) which is no surprise as they’re 95% water. That also means they’re hydrating, which is very important in hot and humid weather! Since you don’t peel the cucumbers, this soup consist 2-4 grams of fiber. Fiber may help protect against colorectal cancer, manage cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular issues. Cucumbers also provides potassium, magnesium and a nutrient called cucurbitacin, which might help stopping cancer cells reproducing!
Greek yogurt, the other main ingredient of this super healthy soup, provides protein, calcium, probiotics and vitamin B-12! High protein content means it helps reducing appetite by making you feel full longer, and it aids building muscles! No wonder personal trainers in Kuala Lumpur and everywhere else always recommend eating more! Calcium is good for your bone health! The probiotic content will boost your metabolism (and therefore your healthy weight-loss) and improves gut health! Hence, this soup is perfect for those who are looking to shred some weight!
This chilled cucumber and Greek yogurt soup is suitable for vegetarians but sadly not for vegans or paleo dieters. If you’re on keto diet make sure that you use the unsweetened and full fat Greek yogurt and extra virgin olive oil to make it keto friendly!
We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
Ingredients:
One pack of Japanese cucumber deseeded and roughly chopped (3 pieces or around 300 grams)
Half piece of a medium red onion
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 small handful of fresh dill
1 handful or parsley leaves
Half a handful of fresh tarragon leaves
1 and 1/2 cups of unsweetened full fat Greek yogurt.
Salt to taste (optional)
Preparation:
Prepare the ingredients, deseed and roughly chop cucumbers.
Throw the ingredients into a food processor and blend in the following order (or all together):
Red onion and garlic
Cucumbers
Olive oil and lemon juice
The herbs
Greek yogurt
Adjust the taste with adding more lemon juice and salt if necessary.
Blend it until you reach the desired texture, then transfer it to the fridge for at least 3 hours to let it cool and to allow the flavours to come together.
Serve it with very finely chopped red onion, fresh chopped mint leaves and extra virgin olive oil!
Enjoy!
Shopping list:
(How much it costs if you have NOTHING at home in your pantry)
Japanese cucumbers - 2.60
Sunglo Full Fat Greek Yogurt - 14.90
1 Lemon - 1.90
Red onion 1kg - 5.50
Garlic 500 grams - 4.50
Tarragon 10 grams - 2.30
Dill 10 gram - 2.30
English parsley 100 gram - 1.60
Extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed - 56.90
SUM: RM 92.5
Cost
Broken down proportionally of how much of the ingredients we used:
Japanese cucumbers: whole pack - RM 2.60
Greek yogurt: 1.5 cups ≈ RM 5.90
Lemon 1 medium lemon has on average about 4-5tbsp juice, so it’s about half a lemon ≈ RM 1
Red onion ≈ 60 grams ≈ RM 0.35
1 clove of garlic ≈ please don’t make me count it, let’s say 10 sen to be generous :)
Dill ≈ quarter pack ≈ RM 0.50
Tarragon ≈ less than quarter pack ≈ RM 0.30
English parsley around 10 grams ≈ RM 0.10
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ≈ 32.5ml ≈ RM 2.50
SUM ≈ 13.35
One portion costs about RM 3.30
Nutrition facts:
