Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bunch scallions, roughly chopped
• 1 clove chopped galic
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 cucumbers, chopped (cut off ends)
• 1/2 jalapeno (take out seeds and veins for less heat)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• mint
• basil

Garnish:

• Crab, lobster, or shrimp

Method:

2. Combine vegetables, yogurt, sour cream, and herbs.
4. Blend until smooth.
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

More: Check out blogger Sarah Kaiser's Vegan Coconut Pumpkin Soup. If you have a great soup recipe that you would like to share, write a comment at the bottom of this post!

Asian Inspirations

We're going to talk about something that's not local: seaweed (hijiki). Chef Orr soaked the hijiki overnight, and it now looks like giant grains of wild rice. "It should taste sweetly of the sea, but it shouldn't taste like a mud pond." For people who don't really like sea vegetables, he recommends rinsing the hijiki again to eliminate more of the sea flavor.

An interesting addition to this salad is the daikon radish. It's shaped like a carrot, but it's white and can grow up to a foot and a half long. You might initially mistake it for jicama, but it definitely has that radish bite to it. "A lot of time when you go to Japanese restaurants," Chef Orr says, "you'll have pickled daikon on your sushi platter."

Seaweed Salad With Shoestring Vegetable And Thai Basil

The vegetables, combined with honey and lime, will give a familiar taste to the potentially unusual seaweed flavor.

Ingredients For The Salad (toss together):

• 1 cup julienne cucumbers
• 1 cup red peppers
• 1 cup carrots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup soaked hijiki seaweed
• 1/2 cup scallions
• 1 cup shredded daikon radish
• 1/2 cup Thai basil
• 1/2 cup mint

Ingredients For The Sauce:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon chili paste
• salt and pepper

Garnish:

• Crab meat
• Lime wedges

Method:

2. Add ingredients for sauce directly to mixed vegetables.
4. Combine vegetables, herbs, and sauce together in a bowl with hands.
6. Garnish with crab meat and lime wedges around the edges. Decorate plate with yellow and red pepper vinaigrette

More: Here are a couple other Asian-inspired dishes for you to experiment with in your kitchen.

News Stories In The Podcast:

• Election Results And Food Policy
• No More Happy Meals

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