Cold Cucumber Soup

This recipe is originally from the "New York Times Cookbook," but I've tweaked it a little. It's terrific for a light meal, or for the salad course for a dinner. I make a batch and pour it into clean plastic drink bottles, store them in the fridge and take one to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion or one leek, sliced & cubed
• 2 cup diced, unpeeled cucumber
• 1 cup watercress leaves (optional)
• 1/2 cup finely diced raw potato
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 springs parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Chopped chives, cucumber & radishes for a garnish

Directions:

• In a saucepan, melt butter & cook onion & leek until they're transparent. Add remaining ingredients except for cream and veggies for garnish. Bring to a boil and summer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Puree in an electric blender. Correct the seasonings and chill.
• Before serving, stir in the cream.
• Garnish with chopped chives, cucumber and radishes.

Here are my modifications. If the cucumber peel is bitter, I peel about 1/2 of it rather than use the cuke completely unpeeled. Also, I often use 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup sour cream, rather than just cream. For a lighter soup, I've also used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt. All variations are good.