SOUPS
This is a love letter to Swedish summer – to walking barefoot, swimming in lakes, eating strawberries every day, making potato sandwiches and cooking a delicious zucchini soup with lots of toppings.
Hey! Here is a little summer love letter from us. One thing you should know about seasons in Sweden and Northern Europe is that they are very accentuated – Autumn is colorful, long and moody, Winter is crisp, cold and snowy, Spring is pretty but unreliable with snow and sun taking turns. So when Summer arrives, not only are the flowers blooming and greens and berries are in season – so are we. Life is easier and our mood is happier. We have moved out of our Stockholm apartment and spent the past weeks in our summer house before we move into our new house in Denmark. Here we are walking barefoot, swim in dark lakes, (recover from trampoline accidents) and cook easy dinners. Below are some snapshots from June.
We have focused 100% on cooking easy summer food. The kids have been loving this gazpacho so we have been making it weekly, along with grilled corn, smashed tomato pasta, veg hot dogs, lots of strawberry bowls, smoothies and smoothie ice pops, this cucumber, melon and feta salad (with a new plant based cheese from our friends at Stockeld), pancakes, pesto potatoes, and the gorgeous summer sandwich with potatoes pictured above [link to a recipe video here].
The kids found our stash of veg tattoos, snuck into the bathroom for 15 minutes and came out covered in vegetables 😂 Look at Noah's cute little belly 😍 We have kept our tattoo webshop open over the summer but note that we won't be able to send out any tattoos until mid-August when we are settled in Denmark.
On to today's recipe. A few days ago we had some zucchini that needed our attention and cooked quinoa leftover so we made a warm but summery soup. The kids hate zucchini anyway so we made it a bit more adult with white wine and herby toppings. Like so many other times, the rule with this type of food is that the toppings is what makes it extra special. The quinoa goes on top and makes it chewier and more filling, dollops of sour cream or smetana adds a tangy and creamy note and herbs, red onion and lemon zest create little flavor sparkles in your mouth. We've made this twice. One time we served it in glasses (thought the kids might like that more, but nope they barely had a sip) and one time in bowls. It's good cold too!
INGREDIENTS
Zucchini Soup
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 celery stalk
1-2 clove garlics
1 large or 2 smaller zucchini / courgette
A good handful fresh spinach
120 ml / 1/2 cup white wine
500 ml / 2 cups vegetable stock
120 ml / 1/2 cup cream or coconut cream
A handful fresh herbs (we use dill and mint, but basil is good too)
1 lemon
Salt & black pepper
Toppings
1 cup cooked quinoa
Sour Cream or Smetana
Dill
Red onion or chives, finely chopped
PREPARATION
1. Add oil to a large sauce pan on medium heat.
2. Peel and chop the onion finely, slice the celery thinly and peel and smash the garlic.
3. Add them to the pan and let simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, dice the zucchini semi-finely and add to the pan. Let soften and then add the spinach (not essential, mainly to make the soup a little greener) and white wine.
5. Bring to a boil to cook out the alcohol then add half of the vegetable stock and the cream.
6. Let simmer for 10 minutes, add the herbs and mix the soup smooth with a hand blender or in a stand blender. Add more of the stock until you have reached your desired thickness. If you like to keep a little texture you can scoop out some of the zucchini before mixing and then adding it back in.
7. Taste and season with lemon juice, salt, pepper and more herbs if needed.
8. Serve in wide bowls or glasses and top with quinoa, a drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of sour cream (optional), dill and finely chopped red onion.
Hope you give this a try and enjoy summer as much as us. We are actually off to Barcelona now for a bit. So if you have any recommendations that we haven't already listed in this guide, let us know in the comments. Big love!
/David & Luise