Chłodnik /ˈxwɔ.dɲik/ is one of the best, quickest and delicious recipes for the hot summer days. A cold soup made out of vegetables or fruits and yogurt, buttermilk, kefir or milk. It is super healthy, vegetarian and filling.
The inspiration for this dish came to me thanks to my amazing friends. Beside letting me and my family spend an amazing week with their beautiful dog, they came to pick her up and brought with them a basket full of goodies. Thank you! I got some amazing taffies, coffee and the most incredible home grown zucchini, yellow squash and peppers. I decided to put them to use and mix them with some of Polish flavors.
Raw zucchini is not a typical vegetable served on Polish tables, but it is delicious and very healthy. Combining it with typical Polish flavors to name some cucumber or dill, brought it to a next level, and added different textures of croutons and radishes created one super delicious bite.
TIME
Ready in 30 min (+ time to cool in the fridge)
Preparation time: 20 min
Serves 6- 8 people
INGREDIENTS
Soup:
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
fresh dill (chopped)
fresh scallions (chopped)
fresh chives (chopped)
3 radishes (finely slices for garnish)
1 small chili pepper (chopped, 1/2 goes into the soup)
1 small cubanella pepper (chopped)
1 cucumber (grated)
1 zucchini (grated)
1 yellow squash (grated)
1 cup of greek yogurt
2 cups of kefir
salt & pepper
Croutons:
2 slices of bread of you choice (chopped 1 inch) here I use spelt bread
1/2 chili pepper
salt & pepper
olive oil
cayenne pepper
STEP BY STEP
1. There is a bit of chopping and slicing in this recipe. So start by finely chopping garlic, dill, scallions and chives. Deseed the peppers and also chopped them. Finally finely sliced radishes.
2. On the big eyes of the shredder grate cucumbers, zucchini and squash.
3. Mix all the chopped herbs, garlic and peppers in a big bowl (Leave a bit of herbs for garnish). Add cucumbers, zucchini and squash. Add on yogurt and kefir.
4. With a big spoon combine everything together and season everything with salt and pepper.
5. Turn the oven to broil on 525F, cut the bread into 1-inch pieces and lay them down on a baking sheet. Season it with chili, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper. Add olive oil and mix everything so all the pieces are covered. Put it in the oven on the lower level of the oven and bake for 5 min, then turn them over (shake the tray) and bake for another 5 min. The croutons should be crunchy on the outside but still soft in the middle.
6. Pour a portion into a small bowl and garnish with radish, herbs and croutons.
7. Serve it cold! SMACZNEGO!
TIPS
1. If you do not like your soup super dense add some sparkling water, that will keep it fluffy but not so heavy as you would add more dairy.
2. Remember that if you are missing some of the ingredients listed in this recipe you can always mix them up.
For more summer recipes see other recipes: