While I love gorging on salads during the warmer months, I also find myself missing soup.
In doing some very brief websearches for “summer soup” I keep coming across gazpacho recipes…and apparently thousands of variations thereof. (To the point where I’m uncertain exactly what “gazpacho” means in the context of the recipes, other than “soup served cold.”)
I know there are many options beyond basic gazpacho, and the classic (though great!) vichyssoise.
What soups do you make when the weather is sweltering - care to share recipes or links?
Any tips/tricks/hints about preparation, serving, garnishing, or seasoning?
Unusual ingredients - or uses for the overflowing (overwhelming?) bounty of CSA boxes?
Can summer soups be frozen and then served once thawed?
And, er, um, do you have a beloved gazpacho recipe you’d care to share? (Because, after looking at some many, I’m thinking I need to venture into exploring those. )
I often make a variant of gazpacho called salmorejo:
Salmorejo
• 1 can of San Marzano tomatoes
• 4-8 fresh tomatoes
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, sprout removed
• 2 slices of bread
• roasted, blanched almonds
• salt
• pepper
• vinegar
• 2-3 oz. olive oil
• a few mint leaves
Mix everything in a powerful blender, such as the Vitamix, for 1 minute. Cool overnight in the refrigerator.
Garnish with tuna fish, chopped hard-boiled eggs, or jamón.
Or smoked salmon!
This is one of my favorites: Saute 1/2 c sliced onion in butter with a little turmeric and cayenne. Add 2 yellow squash, cut in half moons, and a cup of vegetable stock. Simmer for 20:00 until the squash is very soft, then puree with a hand blender. Add salt and lime juice to taste, and more broth if the soup is too thick. Chill, and serve topped with smoked paprika.
My FAVORITE summertime soup!!! (no lie, I love this so much I have it all year long!!)
Dry Vermouth
2 ounces vodka, chilled
Directions
Pour a little bit of dry vermouth in a chilled martini glass and swirl to
coat the inside of the glass. Dispose of excess vermouth. In a shaker full of ice,
gently swirl or stir the vodka before straining into glass.
Serving suggestion: Garnish with olives or lemon twist and add rocks if you like.
(When I make this recipe I skip the dry vermouth step)
I also make this avocado corn soup, which is excellent but fussy. You can cut corners - garnish with cilantro instead of making cilantro oil, skip the melon-baller step, etc.
Funny, my wife and I have been making plans to roll thru a cold soup list all summer as produce peaks. We enjoy a tasty grilled burger with a cool soup during summer…plus a bellini or whiskey sour to end the meal.
I do love gazpacho… I haven’t followed a specific recipe in forever, but i use the original v8 juice instead of tomato juice most recipes recommend, and streaming in a generous amount of olive oil while blending. And sherry vinegar as the acid.
I just made a chilled cucumber soup last weekend that was really fast and refreshing;
3 peeled english cucumbers
4 cloves garlic
1/2 sweet onion
Juice of one lemon
Big pinch of salt, lots of black pepper
Splash of water
Huge handful of fresh herbs, basil/dill/cilantro, whatever
Just chop roughly and blend til smooth. I added in some greek yogurt to ours to smooth it out but in retrospect i think it would be better with avocado. Chill for at least one hour but longer is better.
Garnish with a little leftover fine diced cucumber and fresh herbs, black pepper.
Most summer soups wouldn’t freeze well. Ajo blanco might. I know i have made the SE version of ajo blanco before although they’re insane and you have to soak the raw almonds overnight before trying to blend them. And i know i used more garlic. I liked that it was very simple yet also satisfying enough to be a meal
A lot of people like cantaloupe soup, which really isn’t my thing, but there’s lots of recipes for that around.
2 Likes
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
9
I’ll have seconds, please!
1 Like
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
10
I think that method will work with pretty much any vegetable that gets very soft if you cook it long enough. And if the soup doesn’t puree smoothly, you can always pass it through a sieve to get rid of seeds or strings or what have you.
Oooohh! That reminds me i had an amazing super light korean cucumber soup last summer in seoul, i have this still in my bookmarks and will certainly make it once our really hot and sticky days get here. I don’t remember the sesame garnish on what i had, but that sounds fantastic too https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/oi-naengguk
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