When the weather heats up, we’re always looking for something a little lighter to serve for lunch and dinner. Whether it’s simply too hot to turn on the stove or you’re yearning for something easy to prepare, get a few cold soup recipes in rotation. Dine al fresco on the patio with a cold spoonful of gazpacho, perhaps served in a deep spoon on a plate for a tapas beginning, or add pea soup in a cocktail glass to sip on as the afternoon heats up.
There’s just something about the soups of summer, those cold ones that hydrate, refresh and come to the table brimming with fresh summer produce — sweet corn, vine-ripened tomatoes, basil plucked from the herb garden, cool cucumbers. It’s a mouthful of summer with each spoonful.
(READ MORE: Courters’ Kitchen: Cool off with these summer soups)
One of my favorite chilled soups is made with cantaloupe, though. I’ve picked up some good ones at Logan & Papaw’s Produce in Soddy-Daisy and learned a trick about picking a good, ripe one. They told me to look for a small purple stain on the outside of the cantaloupe. This, they said, is a good indication of its ripeness. Sure enough, the advice was spot-on. The flavor of the fruit with the faint purple mark was amazing, just like a cantaloupe should be.
(READ MORE: Discover the sweet health benefits of summer melons)