It occurred to me once, while gardening, that plants have a lot in common with computers. They must be plugged in to run, perform specific sets of programmed functions, respond to external input, and die when unplugged. A friend further pointed out that plants, like computers, can also be “can be hacked to produce virii or insulin, have a built-in cycle of obsolescence, (and) require constant maintenance.”
My cucumber plant would make a fantastic computer. It never gets virii (yes, I realize people say “viruses” but four years of Latin study doth indeed a pedant make), has no bugs, and can execute numerous instances of its fruit-bearing program flawlessly at incredible speeds. Which is a fancy way of saying there were five massive cucumbers ready to be picked today, two that will be ready in a day or two and lots of tiny babies for the future.
My grandmother used to make several versions of summer cucumber soups but the one I remember best was a very simple cucumber-dill mashup with sour cream. I’ve modified the recipe to use Tofutti “Better Than Sour Cream!”* but you are free to use either or even plain, unsweetened yogurt if you want a more tangy taste. The recipe has two parts: continue on to the second part for a creamy cucumber soup or stop at the first for a light, simple cucumber soup.
Cucumber Soup: Part The Firste
Ingredients
- 4 large cucumbers, peeled and chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- Some cooking oil
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- juice of 1/2 lemon
Preparation
- Peel and chop the onion and cucumbers. I don’t remove the seeds but you may want to if you desire a very smooth consistency or if your cucumbers are excessively seedy. If you do remove the seeds, you may want to add a 5th cucumber to the mix.
- Chop the dill finely.
- Saute the dill and the onion together in some cooking oil or butter until the onions are soft. Add the chicken broth, cucumbers, lemon juice and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so.
- Puree in a blender or food processor.
- You can eat this soup still-warm or chill it for 5 hours and eat it cool. Tart it up with a demure sprinkling of fresh chopped dill or an extravagant dill sprig.
Cucumber Soup: Parte the Seconde
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp of chopped dill
- 1 cup of sour cream/Tofutti “sour cream”/yogurt
Preparations
- Chill the soup for at least 5 hours.
- Mix in the sour cream and dill. Serve in dainty cut glass bowls with antique spoons and eat delicately in your Sunday best with pinky finger extended.
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