Asian Cucumber Soup

This soup is like a gazpacho, but with cucumbers as a base instead of tomatoes.

In a blender, pulse one (1-ounce) slice of white bread into crumbs. (Try the organic soft white from the Vermont Company). Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a second bowl, combine 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper, 1/2 cup chopped green onions, 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, one and a half teaspoons chopped fresh garlic, one small garlic clove (minced) and two pounds of cucumber - peeled, seeded, cut in half lengthwise and chopped.

Place half of the cucumber mixture plus one cup vegetable broth in the blender; puree until smooth and then pour into the large bowl over the bread crumbs. Place the remaining half of the cucumber mixture in the blender with 2/3 cup vegetable broth; puree until smooth and add to the first batch.

Stir in 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, one teaspoon raw sugar, 1/2 tsp chile sauce and 1/4 tsp. salt. The original recipe called for Sriracha, a hot thai chile sauce, but versions I found on the grocery shelves contained fish sauce. Instead, try the chile sauce from Union Foods brand, the only ingredients of which are chile, salt, vinegar and sesame oil. (http://www.ufunionfood.com/)

Ladle 1 and 1/4 cups of the soup into each of 4 bowls. Drizzle each with 1/2 tsp. peanut oil, and you'll have four servings of 90 calories. Serve chilled!

Cost:
yellow bell pepper $1.76
green onions $0.99
cilantro $1.99
cucumber $2.97
vegetable broth $2.69