Cold Spinach, Cucumber and Tomato Soup

My husband took his breakfast with him this morning so I could play around in the kitchen since no one was eating but me. When I talked to my friend Sue this morning she mentioned something she remembered that Jacque Pepin did with leftover salad. She said he took leftover dressed salad and tossed it into the blender and make a cold soup. Needless to say I had to give this a try with what I had in the refrigerator.

I used baby spinach since it is higher in nutrition that lettuce. We had picked up cucumbers from the CSA so I cut one large one into chunks and tossed that into the blender. Garlic is so healthy, so I added a clove. Since I typically dress my salad with sherry vinegar and canola those also went into the soup. I added the chia seeds for their their thickening ability, Omega 3’s and cancer fighting abilities. I knew I wanted a green soup, so the tomato was going to need to go on top the soup so that the color didn’t get muddy.

Continuing with the notion of adding foods that reduce platelet aggregation (from Chapter 17 in "Life Over Cancer"), the foods on that list in this morning’s soup include: tomato, canola oil and garlic. Although the book doesn’t specify chia seeds I assume those also belong on the list since they include flaxseeds for their Omega 3’s.

This is a light soup that is very refreshing and perfect for a summer day. I will be playing around with this concept over the coming months. I like that this soup is so low in calories, and that it includes so many vegetable servings.

Cold Spinach, Cucumber and Tomato Soup
Serves 1

Ingredients:

4 cups of fresh baby spinach, wash and spun dry
1 large cucumber, cut into chunks
1 clove of garlic, peeled and smash
½ tablespoon of sherry vinegar
½ teaspoon of canola oil
1 cup of water
½ tablespoon of chia seeds
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tomato, finely diced

Directions:

Place spinach, cucumber, garlic, vinegar, canola oil and water in the blender and puree until everything is completely smooth. Add the chia seeds to the blender and let them sit on top the blended vegetables for 10 minutes to rehydrate. Then puree the soup again until the chia seeds are completely incorporated. Taste the soup for salt and pepper and season according to your taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, pour into a chilled bowl and top with diced tomato.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 133.71
Calories From Fat (30%) -40.33

Total Fat - 4.7g
Saturated Fat - 0.45g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 116.2mg
Potassium - 1440.05mg
Total Carbohydrates - 19.5g
Fiber - 7.97g
Sugar - 8.37g
Protein - 7.25g

Comments:

I thought this was a great first attempt at a salad soup. I will be making a few modifications to the next version. I am going to substitute almond milk for the water for a little richness. I also think that tofu sour cream would be perfect on top this soup. I may also add a little cilantro or parsley to the soup when it is being pureed for additional flavor.

This is a good concept that has a lot of potential. I am glad Sue mentioned the leftover salad soup. I can see this becoming a regular at our house, especially during the summer.