Vegetarian Times
Bowled Over
Ah, the foods of summer. Potato salad, corn on the cob, lemonade, watermelon, soup. Soup? Absolutely.
Normally, we think of soup as hearty comfort food and associate it with cold weather, but it's actually a lot more versatile than just that. Soup can be light and refreshing -- perfect fare for high temps and record-breaking humidity.
Soup is also an excellent vehicle for creatively using peak-season produce, like those perfect peas at the farmers market or the cream-of-the-crop summer squash from your own garden. Vine-ripened tomatoes, tantalizingly sweet corn -- even that ubiquitous zucchini -- turn silky smooth with just a few whirls of the blender. To allow those one or two primary flavors to shine through, avoid packing the soup with a lot of other ingredients. This also means less prep work and time in the kitchen, which is always good news in August.
Besides being practically effortless to make, summer soups are inherently low-fat. Keep the soup simple, and you'll have a soothing and delicious respite from a scorching day. Pair it with a salad or sandwich and you'll have a quintessential summer meal.
Roasted Corn and Green Chile Soup
Grilled Eggplant and Bell Pepper Soup
Chilled Tomato Soup with Cilantro Pesto
Jean Patterson, a freelance writer living in Pasadena, Calif., writes about food for such publications as Cooking Light and the Los Angeles Times.
"Bowled Over"
Copyright 2001 by Jean Patterson.
Originally published in Vegetarian
Times, August 2001.
All rights reserved. For reprint information, contact Jean Patterson.
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