Creamy Zucchini Soup

This is one of my all-time favorite soups. It’s fast and easy and the reward far outweighs the time spent in preparation. I savor every spoonful! It comes to you from one of my favorite kitchens and its resulting cookbook – The Kripalu Cookbook; gourmet vegetarian recipes. The Kripalu Yoga Center located in Lenox, MA is where I took yoga teacher training, a millennia or two ago. This cookbook reflects the joy, beauty and wholeness that both the practice of yoga and holistic eating can provide. Om Yeah!

• 1 ½ cup sliced onions
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 6 cups chopped zucchini (3-4 medium zucchini)
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt (I use grey Celtic Salt—it’s chock-full of minerals and vitamins)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoons tahini
• 2 teaspoons umeboshi vinegar (I’ve made this soup without it before, and it’s just grand!)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

In a large pot, layer the onions, oats, and zucchini. Cover with the water and bring to a boil. Add the salt, dried basil, and black pepper. (If using fresh basil see below.) Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree the zucchini mixtures with the tahini, vinegar, lemon juice and fresh basil until well blended. Return the mixture to the pot, reheat and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

If you have a hand-held blender, that works great too. I just stick my blender carefully into the pot and blend away.