Recipes for Cold Cukes Soup, Chickpea & Tomato Salad and Garlic Bread

A couple of months ago, I bought a new cookbook. It’s called Fresh Food Fast by Peter Berley and Melissa Clark. I’ve tried a number of recipes from here and loved them all. There are several that I have made a bunch of times. After I’ve made a recipe a couple of times, I tend to make little changes here and there. Sometimes I do this to experiment with a new taste. Sometimes it is because I’m missing an essential ingredient to the recipe and have to scramble for a suitable replacement.

Below is my “unintentional” variation on Peter Berley’s Chilled Cucumber Soup with Mint.  I served it with a chickpea salad and some tomatoes I picked up during our weekly trip to the farmer’s market, as well as some garlic bread.

So why am I telling you all of this? The other evening for dinner, I gave Eliana some of the soup and salad. She went CRAZY for the soup. She actually started “crying” when I so rudely took the spoon away to try to snap a photo of her eating it. The nerve of me, right? I hope you and your little foodie enjoy these recipes as much as Eliana did!

Cold Cucumber Soup

• Adapted, unintentionally, from Peter Berley

• – 3-4 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
• – 1½ cups low-fat plain yogurt
• – 1 scallion, white parts only
• – 1 handful of fresh basil leaves
• –  Fresh garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder to taste

Put all items in a blender and puree. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Put soup in the refrigerator for an hour or more before serving.

Chickpea and Tomato Salad

• – 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• – 1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
• – 1-2 red tomatoes, chopped
• – 1 yellow tomato, chopped
• – 2 scallions, white parts only, chopped
• – Fresh herbs, chopped (I used rosemary)
• – Garlic powder and chili powder to taste
• – Lime dressing

Make the dressing and set it aside. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Garlic Bread

• ·     1 whole wheat baguette, fresh or day-old
• ·     1 small handful of parsley, chopped
• ·     Around 3 tablespoons of butter-like spread or softened unsalted butter (I like Brummel & Brown yogurt spread)
• ·     Shredded Parmesan, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix the butter garlic powder, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings. Mix in the parsley and ⅓ of the Parmesan. Slice open the baguette lengthwise. Spread the butter mixture over both sides of the bread. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the bread. Lay the bread, face up, on a large piece of tin foil. Wrap the tin foil, over the bread making a loose tent. You don’t want the top of the bread to be touching the tin foil or it will all stick to the foil. Bake around 25-30 minutes until golden. Slice and serve.

Happy Cooking!