We are still on a zucchini kick around here. Nothing wrong with that as far as I can see. It’s a good year for squash, with plenty of rain and nice sunny days in between. The tomatoes are wishing it were a little warmer, but squash doesn’t mind that is has been cooler than normal. It makes the plants produce a little longer as well, because in warmer weather production speeds up which tends to wear the plants out more quickly. Not a problem this year.
I have never understood the idea of getting tired of eating summer squash. You can only get the really good stuff for a few months out of the year and it’s such a versatile ingredient that I never run out of inspiration for new ways to cook it.
Looking around my kitchen recently, a big vase of dill caught my eye. I’ve been making lots of pickles the last two weeks, which use up mainly the stronger flavored heads, leaving some of the milder ferny fronds still on the stalks. Zucchini and dill sounded like a nice flavor combination, so I started working on this soup: a vegan version of a zucchini dill soup.
Clearly, we don’t maintain a vegan diet here. I know a lot of you do though, and I wanted to challenge myself to create a soup with a decadent creamy texture without using my usual standby dairy products. I knew that the richness of coconut milk would be perfect.
There are just a few simple ingredients here: Vegetable broth, zucchini onion, garlic dill and canned coconut milk, plus salt and pepper. And the fact that it’s a very quick and easy soup to throw together makes it perfect for a fast weeknight meal, even if you aren’t vegan!
- ¼ cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 small clove garlic, chopped
- a few stems from the dill, left whole
- ½ cup vegetable broth or water
- salt & pepper
- 4 cups fresh zucchini, cut in a small dice [about 20 ounces or 4 smallish squash]
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill fronds, snipped in small pieces with scissors
- ¼ cup canned coconut milk
- olive oil for drizzling over the top
- Place the onion, garlic, dill stems and vegetable broth in a 3 quart saucepan.
- add a pinch each of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Bring up to a simmer and cook over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes.
- Add the squash, a bit more salt & pepper, and return to a simmer.
- Cook about 10 minutes, until the squash is very soft.
- Remove the dill stems and discard.
- Put the squash mixture in the blender, along with the fresh dill fronds.
- Be careful blending hot ingredients - it is best to remove the center part from the blender lid, and hold a folded kitchen towel over the opening while blending.
- Pulse the blender a few time to get things going, and then blend on high speed until the mixture is completely pureed.
- Add the coconut milk [stirred so that it is well mixed and creamy ], and pulse a few times to incorporate.
- Taste and add additional salt if needed. You can thin it with a bit more vegetable broth if it is too thick for your taste.
- Garnish with julienned zucchini skin, a few dill fronds, and a drizzle of good olive oil
- Serve immediately, refrigerate leftovers. Serves two as a lunch or light dinner, 4 as an appetizer. easily doubles or triple to serve more people, but do the blending in batches.
I used some “Black Beauty” zucchini for this batch, which are a dark green, accounting for the vibrant deep green color you see in the photos. Light skins will result in a lighter color, and if you use a squash like yellow crookneck, the soup with be a lovely light yellow color.
So simple, and so very good.
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