I woke up with a terrible sore throat this morning. I mean it was that pain waking me up and it was so hard to gulp. It is not a kind of feeling I’m familiar with as I rarely fall sick even in the coldest weather. I have such a strong body that I don’t need to wear so thick clothes during Winter while everyone tries to cover their whole body, even their foreheads. My friends are always surprised how I can bear such freezing degrees. When they ask me how, my constant answer is related to what I eat. And I recommend them to do the same. For one thing, we always have a jar of nuts ( a mixture of walnut, hazelnut and almonds) on our table in the kitchen, so it’s easier to remember to eat these as they have lots of benefits for health. Even if I don’t have time for breakfast in the mornings before leaving for work, I grab a handful of nuts and eat them on the way. I have the necessary energy thanks to these nuts during the day as they prevent my body to get weak. Another thing that we always have in our pantry in Winter is grape molasses, which I told about in another post. We either eat it mixing with tahini (sesame seed paste) at breakfast or have a spoonful of it like cough syrup at nights. We try to have grape molasses at least three times a week in this way. These are two important parts of our eating habits during Winter. We absolutely owe them a lot. But how come I had that unbearable throat pain this morning? I have no idea! Maybe because of hectic weeks at school I’ve had recently or the crowded classes I’ve been teaching. To prevent the illness from going further, I took some vitamins and drank herbal tea during the day.
Although I felt better at the end of school time, I didn’t want to prepare a complete meal for dinner as I was off my food. The only dish I could eat was a warm soup. When I opened the refrigerator, I saw we had almost nothing left except a few zucchinis. I didn’t know a soup with zucchini, not so common here. Remembering that a close friend mentioned a zucchini soup she cooked before, I took a deep breath of relief. I called her without wasting any more time and got the recipe from her. The result was incredibly tasty and I had two bowls. This was my total dinner, but it was enough for me, at least today. (drawing by mom)
Zucchini Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 2 zucchinis, thinly chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp yogurt
- 2 tbsp flour
- 5 cups hot water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Fresh dill and red pepper flakes to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pot and saute onion and garlic. Add in chopped zucchini and saute them for about 5 minutes.
- Pour hot water into it and bring it to boil.
- Mix yogurt and flour in a bowl. Do not pour it directly into the pot. Take some hot water with a ladle from the pot and add it little by little to yogurt and flour mixture. This helps yogurt to ‘adapt’ to the heat of the soup. Otherwise, it goes bad.
- If it’s still cold, add some more hot water into it and mix well.
- Pour the mixture into the pot, but don’t hurry while doing this. Stir well and mix it with a blender until smooth.
- Boil it a few minutes more. Add salt and serve it hot.
- You can garnish it with fresh dill and red pepper flakes.
mmmm this sounds simply delicious and very warming! I hope you feel better soon
Such a delicious soup, sounds like a perfect cure! I do hope you feel better!
I know many people to share this recipe yet. A lot of folks grew zucchini and are running out of ideas of what to make with it, This tasty recipe should cure them of their troubles. It looks absolutely delicious.
Hope you feel better soon. It’s getting colder here as well. Thanks on those tips on how to keep our body strong.
Wow I like the use of yogurt here! And the fact that summer is still here, yippeeee! 😀
Sorry to hear you have a sore throat. I’m sure the warmth of the zucchini soup helped a lot. As an ol’ grandma remedy, you should boil a few slices of fresh ginger, sugar, a hint of turmeric powder. Finish with freshly squeezed lemon juice. =) Hope you feel better.
Zerrin, a bowl of warm soup is worth dozens of throat pastilles. The soup looks delicious. It’s a perfect dish for the chilly fall evenings. Thank you..
The soup looks grand! Perfect timing with cooler days now.
I hope you feel well soon. Soup is just the thing when your body is doing poorly.
Thank you all for your comments and good wishes. I took more vitamins, pastilles, ate fruits, drank cups of boiled lemon, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, honey mixture (Thank you Jackie for the recipe, this is mom’s famous medicine for the cold). But I’m still not feeling good! Moreover I have a runny nose and constant sneezing. And of course a terrible headache! I still don’t want to see a doctor, I hate hospitals.
This looks fantastic, Zerrin. What a great vegetarian soup. Thank you for the recipe.
Oh dear, how’s your sore throat? Hope you’re feeling better. It’s great to have some soup and this one is definitely full of nutritions!
This looks so creamy and delicious Zerrin! I hope your feeling better.
This sounds like the perfect soup to make you feel better! The yogurt in it sounds delicious.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM,…. Your soup looks so delectabel!!!!
Thanks for including the link to your grape molasses post. It sounds exactly like the sort of thing that I’d want in my kitchen, and I’ll try to see if I can find it at the ethnic store in Milan. Hmmmm..can you tell me in what size bottle that it usually comes in? Most often all of the items at the ethnic store is written in its original language, with italian translations, but if I have an idea what to look for….it would make asking/finding it easier.
As for the wise advice of eating a handful of nuts in the morning…I do just the same! They truly are a healthy substitute when you’re on the run, which is why I rarely get sick at all, even in winter. Great post!
salam zirrin
I hope y’re feeling better, drink lemon juce, it’ll help you so much
thanks for sharing this recipe, it sounds so delicious
I thank you so much for your help, i did sekerpare yesterday, hmmmmmmmm so delicious mom likes it too
I’ll post the pictures in my blog with a link to your blog
hope you’ll get better soon
Kisses
I hope you’re feeling better Zerrin! This soup looks warming and delicious, the perfect thing to get you feeling better! The grape molasses sounds so interesting, I’ll be looking for it!
Thank you all. I’m feeling much better thanks to your good wishes. But I think I must go on taking vitamins for a few days more not to get weak again.
Rowena- Grape molasses is called Uzum Pekmezi in Turkish (uzum for grape and pekmez for molasses). You can just ask for pekmez in that market. There are different types of pekmez, but the one made of grapes is the most popular one, so we generally call it just pekmez. And it’s generally sold in bottles of 500gr. And it’s generally put on the same shelf with tahini. Hope you can find it.
Jouhayna- I saw your sekerpare and they look perfect! I can’t think anyone to refuse such a yummy dessert. And it’s very kind of you to give a link to my blog.
I’m glad to be back here to see this wonderful soup recipe and picture, and to read that you are feeling better! It sounds like a typical cold and hopefully it will be completely gone by the weekend. I’ve missed reading your blog as we’ve been away recently and are now busy looking at colleges with my son on the weekends 🙂 I hope the new school year with your students goes well, Zerrin! Good luck…
selam zirrin
thanks a lot for your visit and coment
wish you a blessed good friday
kisses
Hello !!
this is Pierre form Paris France !
I like your blog very much and hope you feel better !
If you like French creative cuisine come and visit my blog you are most welcome : the last recipe is in english !!se you then !!!
Pierre
Hope you really feel much better now!!
This soup looks creamy and very tempting for cold days 🙂
Cheers!
Gera
Feel better soon, Zerrincim. Your zucchini soup looks good. I loved your zucchini with green lentils (made it, was so good), and I am sure this one is equally delicious.
Soup looks delicious! Hoping that you are feeling better.
I hope you feel better…
Just discovered yout blog and loving it. I will check out all the recipes here! 🙂
I found your blog after reading about it on Tangled Noodle’s web site. You have such a great attitude toward cooking! This soup looks lovely and I’m hoping it made you feel better!
I’m feeling a bit under the weather myself and am looking forward to some comforting soup today. Something about it reminds me of my mum taking care of me as a child. Comfort doesn’t get much better than that!
So creamy adnd yummy soup Zerrin..