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Thursday, August 8, 2019

Roasted Summer Zucchini Soup



summer zucchini soup

Soup in the summer? Why not? 
Don't overlook this exceptional soup just because its hot outside. 
What spells summer more than fresh basil, fresh mint, and zucchini?




sliced zucchini



Summer soups can be enjoyed hot or chilled. Personally, I like my soup hot. However, if you prefer, this soup tastes equally as good chilled or at room temperature.



basil herb
fresh basil 

Last week Deb at Kahakai Kitchen made a zucchini, pea, and basil soup by Yotam Ottolenghi, an Israeli born chef, restaurant owner, and cookbook author for her weekly Souper Sunday where anyone can share a soup, salad, or sammie recipe. 

It inspired me to make my summer zucchini soup.




fragrant summer zucchini soup
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Some of the ingredients in my recipe are the same as the ingredients in Yotam Ottolenghi's soup. However, my recipe also has the addition of shallots and mint, no peas and less garlic. In addition, I roasted the vegetables in the oven instead of sautéing them which I feel brings out a richer flavor. 

In fact, the roasted zucchini tasted so good when I took it out of the oven, I almost wanted to skip the soup and just eat all the delicious roasted zucchini.  


minted zucchini soup
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I grow containers of herbs on my deck all summer,  and I love going out and snipping them for my recipes. With my fresh mint and basil, this soup turned out delicious, was very fresh and tasted light and healthy! Of course it is naturally gluten free and vegan.



herbs in containers

What does zucchini have to offer nutritionally? 

  • Zucchini offers a significant amount antioxidants, particularly found in the skin, so don't peel it. Antioxidants are protective plant compounds that help defend the negative effects of free radical damage within the body which may contribute to aging and disease.
  • Since cooked zucchini is also rich in Vitamin A,  and contains the carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene it may benefit the skin, eyes, and heart.
  • Zucchini also contains magnesium and vitamin K which may help strengthen the bones. 
Sounds like zucchini has a lot to offer in addition to taste! So don't forget to enjoy zucchini while it is plentiful all summer. 

I love making my Zucchini Corn Lime Soup or my Baby Zucchini roasted with herbs, or my Chunky Eggplant Sauce for my spiralized zucchini. There are so many ways to enjoy zucchini. 



Ingredients:

5 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 medium zucchini, sliced (about 4 cups)
4 shallots, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon vegetable paste
4 cups water 
Olive oil
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons of lime juice


Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
Spray zucchini, shallots, and garlic with olive oil. Lay all vegetables on a parchment covered rimmed cookie sheet and roast for 45 minutes. 
When vegetables are roasted, remove and add to a strong blender. Add bouillon paste, water, , mint, and basil and fresh lime juice. Whiz until smooth. Eat at room temperature, chill or heat before serving. Garnish with some fresh mint or basil.


My Notes:
1. You can substitute 4 cups of your favorite vegetable broth plus some cracked pepper in place of the Better Than Bouillon paste.

2. Oil-Free Version: 
I've learned to sauté and roast without using oil. For this recipe use acquafaba (the liquid from cooking chickpeas or from canned chickpeas) instead of using oil. Toss the zucchini, shallots, and garlic in acquafaba and then lay all vegetables on a parchment covered rimmed cookie sheet and roast for 45 minutes and follow the directions. 

Sharing on Beth Fish Reads WEEKEND COOKING where anyone can share a food related post




Sharing on   Kahakai Kitchen Souper Sunday where anyone can share a soup, salad, or sammie recipe. 




20 comments:

  1. I too prefer my soups hot. Have been eating lots of zucchini lately..your soup must have been very flavourful using the roasted veggies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angie,
      I haven't been eating as much zucchini as usual, since the our farmer's market has sad that the deer have eaten their crops! no zucchini..However, they are waiting for the next crop.. hope we get some

      Delete
  2. What a refreshing sounding summer soup recipe. It looks yummy too. As soon as I have zucchini on hand, I'll try it. I probably would substitute broth for the paste. Will pin this and wish you a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nancy,
      I recently started making my own vegetable paste ( or bouillon) . It is a real time saver and uses much less space to store in than homemade vegetable broth.. Thanks so much for pinning my recipe. Much appreciated.

      Delete
  3. This looks so perfect for August: fresh herbs and zucchini are everywhere right now.

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  4. I prefer my soup hot as well. Lots of zucchinis around so I might try this along with the peas.

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    Replies
    1. Jackie,
      I tried it both ways. I decided to leave out the peas!

      Delete
  5. Summer vegetable soup sounds really good ...nice to go further than just gazpacho, though that's my next plan.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really have to be in the mood for gazpacho- sometimes I find it too spicy or acidic..

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  6. Roasted zucchini - will have to try that. Cheers

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  7. Zucchini is my ‘bulking’ vegetable of choice. I grate it and add to most meat dishes, but I don’t particularly like it on its own.
    Have a great week

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    Replies
    1. Interesting idea to add it as a grated vegetable to other dishes. Thanks for the tip!

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  8. Great post!! The soup looks delicious and I learned something! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party - Have a great week and I hope I see you at next week's party!

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  9. Hot soup all year round, yes! And zucchini and basil are summer crops, so this recipe is perfect for right now!

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    Replies
    1. I know. It's great to have a variety of zucchini recipes for the summer.

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  10. It looks delicious. Roasting the zucchini is a great idea.
    Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week. ;-)

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  11. We have a good harvest of Zucchini from our garden and can't wait to try this recipe! I just pinned the recipe it looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,444 and hope you have a great week!
    Miz Helen

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  12. This does look nice and tasty. I would love to try. Thanks for sharing at Welcome To The Weekend Blog Hop, hope to see you tomorrow for another one :)

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Your comments are appreciated. I love knowing who is stopping by to read my posts! Have a great day.