Monday, July 5, 2010

Chilling with Summer Soups

This week the thermometer is topping 100 all week. Thankfully the humidity is blessedly low, but who wants to turn on an oven or even a burner in that heat?

Instead, I dug in the fridge for something cool, preferably cold. I'd just bought two packages of strawberries - soup!

I messed around with ideas and ingredients and here's the result:

Strawberry Soup
2 lb. strawberries
2 Tbls. Port wine
2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cardamom
dash freshly ground cinnamon

In a blender, blend strawberries and wine until smooth. As it's blending, add yogurt.

Pour into a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir well (until sugar is dissolved). Refrigerate an hour.

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This was by no means my first chilled soup. I've made gazpacho before, but wasn't nuts about it (I'm not a fan of uncooked tomatoes). But I stumbled on a great mango gazpacho recipe that's been a favorite here for years.

Mango Gazpacho
3 soft mangoes, peeled and pulp removed any way you can manage it
2 cups mango nectar
2 cups coconut milk
2 Tbl. fresh minced ginger
1 Tbl. lime juice
1/4 cup brown sugar

In a blender, puree mangoes, ginger, and coconut milk until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend again. Chill at least an hour.