It is so terribly hot here in Kansas, that the thought of cooking is just too much to bear.
Enter: The summer soup recipe exchange.
A (long) while ago, I shared my rather surprising gazpacho soup recipe, which remains a perennial favorite. But today, I wanted to share with you an up-and-coming Top 10’er, which is universally adored by all five members of my family.
I first ate this berry soup at my good friend Debbie’s house. She worried that my boys wouldn’t like it, but in fact, they liked it so much they ate three bowls.
I came home determined to recreate it, only to find out that her “so simple, it doesn’t even need a recipe” recipe was, in fact, a bit complicated. So, I took to the Internet, sleuthing out the closest proximity, and found this Chilled Mixed Berry Soup recipe at Taste of Home. I doctored it up just a bit and ended up with a very close second to Debbie’s masterpiece.
Hopefully you will all enjoy it as much as my family does!
Chilled Mixed Berry Soup
Adapted from Taste of Home
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sliced fresh or frozen strawberries
- 2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (or blueberries)
- 1 cup frozen peaches
- 1 cup unsweetened apple juice (OJ or white grape juice work, too, in a pinch)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar or sucanat, or to taste (I use less)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt (for a meat meal, you can subsitute soy or rice milk yogurt or leave it out entirely)
- 8 mint leaves, for garnish
Directions
- In a heavy saucepan, combine berries, juice, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook, uncovered, over a low heat for 20 minutes or until berries are softened. Refrigerate until chilled. If you are using frozen, it shouldn’t take quite as long.
- Place mixture in a food processor – or use a hand immersion blender. Process until smooth, adding water as necessary to thin – should be relatively thick, though.
- Pour into bowls, and top with vanilla yogurt and garnish with mint leaves.
- Serves 8.
Now it’s your turn: Are you a fan of cold soups on a hot summer day? Please share your favorite chilled soup recipe in the comments section. Or if you’ve blogged about this refreshing appetizer, please link up with the Mr. Linky.
That looks delicious. And if you thought your version was easy, here’s our summer staple, which can be easily doctored, but really truly is embarassingly easy.
Strawberry soup.
One giant bag of frozen strawberries from costco, let defrost for a little bit.
One jar of mandarin oranges (in juice or syrup).
We dump it all into a plastic pitcher that has a top, zhuzh (is that the correct spelling?) it with the immersion blender, and done. You can add a little sugar if it isn’t sweet enough, but it almost always is. We serve the kids in cups, and adults get it in bowls. So refreshing. We’ve added peaches to this with great success, and frozen raspberries too. Really just about any fruit. It’s basically a smoothie, but we call it soup. And if that’s all the kids eat for lunch, well, not too bad.
Shabbat Shalom, and thanks for the awesome site.
BTW, I have to ponder that gazpacho for a bit. we do a more basic just veg and tomato juice….yours seems intriguing.
I do a strawberry soup like Chaya’s, but it’s just frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 sugar (to taste) and a handful of chopped mint, blend together, then stir in a cup of yogurt. So easy, and my kids love it.
Another soup I love is cascadilla, which I think originally came from one of the Mollie Katzen cookbooks. I’ve made it for so many years I don’t even follow a recipe anymore, but it looks basically like this. It’s milder than gazpacho because it uses only scallions, no onions or garlic. I love making it in the summer because it’s cool and creamy and a good way to use veggies/herbs from our garden!
Cascadilla:
1 lg. can/bottle tomato juice
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped small
1/2 container mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
bunch of scallions, sliced
handful of basil, chopped
handful of dill, chopped
handful of parsley, chopped
1 cup plain yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all veggies/herbs into tomato soup, flavor with salt and pepper, swirl in yogurt, and garnish with extra scallions or herbs on top. Yummy with croutons, too.
this is the fruit soup i did last shabbos even tho every one said where is the chicken? everyone likes this soup~!
1 bag frozen strawberries
1 can pears
1 can peaches
2 cans of sour cherries
1 cup sweet white wine
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 package of kosher red jello
empty the juice from the cans of fruit into a soup pot. add 2 cans of water to the pot heat up and add the wine , jello and sugar and mix till the sugar is melted. add in all the fruit cook for about 5 minutes take off the heat and let it cool down. then with a hand blender mix till smooth, chill and serve.
I found a recipe for Eggplant Gazpacho in an old Bon Appetit I had around the house. I was thwarted from making it since my milchig blender kicked the bucket and I have yet to toivel my new one, but it sure looks yummy.
2 large eggplants, halved lengthwise
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups fresh tomato juice
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 cups water
extra-virgin olive oil
preheat oven to 325, drizzle cut side of each eggplant w/1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle w/salt and pepper. Roast about 1 1/2 hours. Cool, discard large seed pockets. Scoop flesh into bowl and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, saute until golden brown (about 25 minutes). And cumin and cayenne pepper, stir one minute. Add yogurt, lemon juice and tahini, stir, scraping up browned bits. Remove from heat. Stir in eggplant. Place half the mixture in the blender, with blender running, gradually add 3/4 cup tomato juice, then 1 cup water. Puree until smooth. Strain through fine mesh strainer into large bowl. Repeat with the other half. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.
Yum!
This is a big favorite at my house. The ginger adds a real nice pop to what might otherwise come across as too sweet or too much like a smoothie. It’s modified from the Emeril Summer Fruit Soup:
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon minced ginger
* 3 cups chopped strawberries (or use frozen)
* 2 cups chopped pineapple (or use canned)
* 1 1/2 cups chopped peaches (or use canned)
* 2 pieces lemon peel
* 2 pieces lime peel
* 2 pieces orange peel
* 4 cups water
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 cup blueberries
* Mint sprigs, for garnish
Directions
Saute the ginger in a medium pot over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes (no oil is necessary.) Add 2 cups strawberries, 1 cup pineapple, 3/4 cup peaches and the lemon, lime and orange peels; cook for another 2 minutes. Add water, sugar and fruit juices and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Allow mixture to cool slightly and then transfer in batches to a blender or food processor. Puree and strain into a large bowl. Add remaining 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup pineapple, 3/4 cup peaches and blueberries. Stir to combine, cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Serve with mint sprigs for garnish
We’re trying this for dinner, inasmuch as it’s 105 degrees out. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Watermelon-and-Cucumber-Gazpacho-232543