Okroshka – Cold Summer Soup

Okroshka is Russian favorite cold summer soup! It’s super healthy, cooling and nourishing. A pro-biotic powerhouse.

Every summer brings us fresh vegetables to celebrate the soups and salads, which are often the core of my everyday cooking. Cucumbers are one of those vegetables that I believe in eating nearly constantly when they are around. This year I have been fortunate to have so many crunchy cucumbers in my garden.

Combined with other aromatic vegetables and herbs, they make a soup that’s like mouthful of summer. This soup is called Okroshka.

Okroshka is a cold Russian soup that can be made with any available crunchy summer veggies, herbs and eggs. All served with buttercream or kefir and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.  It is such a perfect dish for lunch on a blazing hot day.

Try it and you’ll see what I mean!

HOW TO MAKE OKROSHKA

Cook potatoes by baking or boiling them. I personally like baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil with bay leaves and pepper corns. The flavor and texture is much nicer compared to boiled potatoes. The potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking the potato with a fork, paring knife, or skewer. Let the potatoes cool down, then peel and finely chop them.

Boil the eggs. I usually use this method for perfectly hard boiled eggs:

• bring the water to a boil in a medium pot
• reduce the heat to medium and add eggs
• cook for 8 minutes
• remove the eggs and place them in cold water for 10 minutes or so

Peel the eggs and separate the whites from yolks. Set yolks aside on a plate. Chop the whites and add them to the bowl with potatoes.

Then dice the cucumbers, radishes, green onion and herbs. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

This soup may seem like a lot of dicing for an inexperienced non-Russian person (yeah, we like to chop things), so having a chopper saves time.

Prepare the buttermilk base for the Okroshka by combining all the ingredients in the food processor or blender. Put the mixture into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

HOW TO SERVE OKROSHKA

Divide the chopped vegetables between the serving plates and pour the base on top. Garnish with fresh herbs, micro greens, and more lemon juice. If the mixture is too thick add cold filtered water 1:1 to the buttermilk base mixture or to your taste.

More Delicious Soup Recipes:

Italian Wedding Soup – Fresh greens, soul-warming broth and delicious mini meatballs married together in a nourishing weeknight supper.

Seafood Bisque – It is creamy, hearty, and satisfyingly thick without being too heavy.

Thai Shrimp Noodle Soup – Easy, creamy, flavourful, a kind of soup that hits the perfect spot between silky-creaminess and fire-breathing flavor all in one sweeping spoon.

Ukrainian Borscht – So full of nutrients, you can just feel the vitamins nourishing your body as you eat each delicious spoonful.

Have you made this recipe? Let me know by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below! Don’t forget to take a picture and tag @gastrosenses and use #gastrosenses on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations!