I’ve always dreamed of having a garden. When I was very little, my mom used to have a vegetable garden in the backyard – I remember sunkissed days with tomatoes coming out our ears, along with peas, lots of peppers, even once we tried growing corn (that didn’t work so well)… But one of the sacrifices of apartment life is giving up the chance for a garden. A meager balcony with all the wrong sunshine is not an ideal setup for an urban oasis of greenery.
So instead of being outside amongst the bounty of nature taking care of the plants and growing our own dinner, we venture up to the trails, to see the mountains and landscapes before us. We eagerly set off to get away from all the concrete.
And ironically, there is my husband, admiring the beauty of nature standing next to a large wall, ha!
Not such a bad substitute to gardening, eh? 
But hikes and travels don’t bring us fresh produce. For that, we head to the markets each weekend. It’s one of my favorite activities, and I’m so glad our current lifestyle and location here en Suisse has made it so accessible to us. And this way we get to ogle over what everyone else is growing (and buy and cook a few things too). Vegetables I’ve never even seen and heard of before, all sorts of root veggies, stone fruits like my beloved mirabelles and reines claudes, berries overflowing each barquette and of course, one of my favorites, zucchini. Zucchini is one of those vegetables that just shouts to the world that Summer is here. I love it, and could eat it every day. I love to use zucchini in everything – as “fettuccine“, in quick bread, ratatouille, as a garnish in several dishes like with these Coquilles St. Jacques, the list goes on. But never before had I made a soup…
This soup is really all about making zucchini the star – it’s the main ingredient, and just sings of the brightness of the flavor of the vegetable. I served it mildly warm (after all, it has been pushing over 30ºC nearly every day here). Made with produce that’s as good as fresh from a garden, I enjoyed every spoonful.
Jenn Cuisine
Adapted from Creamy Summer Zucchini Soup by Alissa and Tom of the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
Prep time: 30 minutesIngredients:
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 large zucchinis, chopped
- half a lemon’s worth of lemon juice
- 1 cup + 1 cup vegetable stock (make sure gluten free)
- salt to taste (if vegetable stock is unsalted)
- large splash of cream
- chives
Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat and saute onions and garlic until translucent.
2. Add the zucchini, lemon juice, and 1 cup of vegetable stock, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer about 15 minutes until tender.
3. Use an immersion blender (or transfer to your food processor) and purée the soup until smooth. Return soup to the pot, add the other cup of stock (more or less depending on how thick you like your soup) and bring back to a simmer for a couple minutes and stir.
4. Serve with a splash of cream and chives.
Also submitted to – Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Gluten Free Wednesdays
{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
Such a lovely way to cook with zucchini. Looks so comforting and delicious.
Thanks so much!
This sounds so very refreshing and looks so too! love the vibrant green color and the light drizzle. Lovely. I would hike to those beautiful places rather than tend to a garden.. LOL I love doing both.
Thanks so much Soma! Oh I would love to have a garden now and do both…
A lovely soup! Refined and delicious.
Great pictures. The Cervin is such a beautiful mountain.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Rosa!
Wow – beautiful landscapes! You hardly notice the wall!
Your soup looks so comforting and sounds like a great way to work some veggies into my kids’ dinner without them really noticing. I love how you made the green soup look so gorgeous in the picture. Stunning photography!
Thanks so much !
Beautiful Jenn…both the mountains and the soup. I’m making sweet potato soup today…not chilly enough right now; but nights here are just pleasant enough a soup like this would be perfect.
Thanks Barbara! Our nights are not cooled down at all… but the soup is still tasty a bit chilled
This looks absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to use up the last of our summer zucchini!
Thanks!
Looks like a lot more fun than gardening to me!
And that soup is lovely. Looks like you did pretty well at the farmer’s market.
Thanks Rivki!!
flavourful looking colourful soup delicious
Thank you!
This looks so amazing Jenn! Wow!
Thanks Jessica!
i agree..even i’ve always wanted a garden, but all i have is potted plants in a balcony . will do for now
truly enjoyed seeing the nature images ! the soup is a gorgeous green
Thank you so much!
What a beautiful soup! That place is spectacular
Thanks! Yes it is a spectacular place
Looks liek yu live on a little piece of heaven. So pretty. We have one farmers market here in Dubai whoch runs over a few months in winter. So I’m rather jealous of your description! And yes, I long to have a vegetable patch of my own too…..but alas, I live in an apartment!
We will long for our vegetable gardens together! Ah such is apartment living….
I have a wonderful big veggie garden and love it! What suprises me is how so few people who could have one, don’t. All of my friends live in homes with large backyards, but not many care to grow things. It doesn’t have to be fancy, at the garden centre they even sell ‘potato sacks’ to plant potatoes in and they have a zipper hatch to harvest them without disturbing the plants. That is something you could grow nearly anywhere and produces a ton of goodies. We always have sooo many zucchinis in summer, and this sounds like a nice way of using them up
Oh I am so jealous!!! If I had the right space I would definitely have some veggies planted….
I’ve never made a soup with zucchini as the main component – this looks elegant and oh so very tasty =)
Thank you !
Lovely soup Jenn…
Thanks Simone!
Jenn – the mountains are beautiful! The soup sounds wonderful too. I think it’s simple enough for me to try. Thanks!
Thanks so much Amy!
I love zucchini soup! And your photos are stunning!
Thanks so much!! I really enjoyed this soup too
I love the markets over here too! I eat veggies so much more now because I love getting them fresh from the markets and farmers. That zucchini soup looks amazing, I need to get motivated and try it out!
Beautiful photos, as always! I love your setup and the matterhorn is stunning!
Thanks Angela!
I just googled “creamy zucchini soup” after looking at Ali and Tom’s recipe, but deciding that I did want to make it dairy as we are not dairy-free. I love so many of their recipes, but didn’t know how to adjust it. How perfect that I found your recipe adapted from theirs! I’ll be trying it this week.
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it.
Looks so yummy! Absolutely stunning photos of the landscape!
Thanks Jen!
I’ll trade you my backyard garden for that view! Wow! My zucchini plant is on its last leg, but if I can get a couple more out of it, I’ll have to try this recipe!
ha! It’s certainly not my backyard, but a good 4+ hr train ride makes it a pretty convenient weekend trip for us
What a lovely lovely view!
Thanks Erica!
I loves Zucchini too! But never know that zucchini can be made as a soup!
Thanks to u – now I know
I LOVES all the pic – a pic where there a bowl of a zucchini & with the green + big mountain in it!
Tq for sharing the recipe
Aww thanks!
I love zucchini so why is it that I resist new zucchini dishes? Maybe it’s just the color? But I like Green too! I betcha it has something to do with Dr. Suess and Green Eggs & Ham…or st. paddys day and my mom would color ALL of our food with green food die….anyway, this one’s goin’ on my pinboard.
haha well rest assured it is nothing like green eggs and ham!
Gorgeous photos! I just picked up some zucchini yesterday, so I definitely want to try this soup. I can just imagine hiking up to see that gorgeous view, then enjoying a nice cup of soup while taking all the beautiful scenery in!
Oh Thanks!!
What gorgeous photographs! And I absolutely LOVE this recipe – I am always looking for new ways to use zucchini squash. Thanks so much and congrats on Top 9 today!!
Thank you! Was a great surprise to see today
I love any creamy, pureed vegetable soup and this one looks delicious!
Thank you !
That photo is a beauty.
Thank you
That is a beautiful soup! It looks pretty easy to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe and beautiful photos!
It was definitely easy, hope you enjoy it!
Wow, another yummy sounding recipe I want to try! How is it that you make a lifelong non-cook want to create in the kitchen? Perhaps it is because your pictures prove the food is good. That picture of the mountain with the flowers is stunning as well.
Thanks so much Jennifer!
I’ve never tried zucchini in a soup, but I’m sure I would love it. I just wish my zucchini plants had done better this year. That would be a great way to use it up.
Thanks Linda!!
Oh, Jenn, you already know I love your landscapes so I won’t go on and on about them (although I easily could), but my goodness this soup sounds amazing! I think I need to see if my parents have any more extra zucchinis from their garden they’d like to give to a worthy home…
Awww thanks!! If you try it let me know how it comes out
The way you photographed that soup just makes it shine! My mouth is watering! I love zucchini, what a great way to show case it
Thanks Robyn!
I love zucchini and this recipe looks easy enough even for me to make. I can’t wait to try.
For how many people does the quantities specified in this recipe cater?
It depends on how big your serving size is, but we got about 3 starter-sized bowls from it before serving the main for dinner. Sorry I can’t be more specific!
{ 2 trackbacks }