Summer Cucumber Soup (Vegan and non-Vegan options)

Summer hasn't officially started, but, boy, the heat sure has! In weather like this, we like to eat a lot of salads and raw foods. Not only because they help cool down our bodies, but also because they save me from having to stand in front of a hot stove.

To add variety to our summer meals, I like to make cold, no-cook soups. Here's one that serves as a great appetizer, as well as a wonderful main dish for hot summer evenings. I use fresh mint that I grow in my garden. If you don't grow your own mint, I'm telling you, you should. It's just about the easiest herb to grow, and you can use it fresh or dry it. If you don't have room for a garden, you can grow mint on your balcony or even on a sunny window ledge. Just get a starter plant, either from a nursery or pull out a rooted stem from a friend's garden, put it in a pot with some soil, give it water on a regular basis, and watch it grow. Seriously, it's that easy.

You can make this soup vegan by using almond milk yogurt, or, if you like cow's milk yogurt, use the good Greek kind, with active bacteria (don't worry, it's the beneficial kind of bacteria that keeps your digestive system healthy).

Summer Cucumber Soup

(serves 4 as an appetizer)

Guest Post - Heirloom Gazpacho with Grapefruit and Basil

If you've never visited Elana Horwich's Meal and a Spiel, you are definitely missing out! She's funny and smart and boy, does she have the best recipes around!

I asked Elana if she had any yummy no-cook recipes for hot summer days and she came through with flying colors! This nutritious and insanely good soup takes a little bit of time, but the results are definitely worth it. 

Here is the recipe, and if you want to know the story behind it, click here. Thank you, Elana!

Heirloom Gazpacho with Grapefruit and Basil

makes 4 cups gazpacho

4 servings or 15-18 large shot-glass appetizer portions

• 1 pound red or reddish-brown ripe heirloom tomatoes or 4 or 5 large vine ripened tomatoes
• 1 large yellow ripe heirloom tomato, chopped finely
• 1 English cucumber, cut into 1 inch rounds
• 1 red onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• one grapefruit
• a handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1. Cut red tomatoes in half and use a spoon to scoop out seeds. (With heirlooms, you might need to be a little creative to get seeds out. Just do it and don’t stress it. It’s all good. You are on the way to making a delicious gazpacho.)
2. Put red tomatoes, half of the cucumbers, one quarter of the onion, the sherry vinegar and one teaspoon of salt in your food processor until fully puréed.
3. Pour into a large bowl.
4. Add the rest of the cucumbers and 2 quarters of the onion (you will have one quarter remaining) and pulse into finely chopped. Do NOT over process or you will lose the crunch in your soup. Push the PULSE button in this rhythm: pulse-pulse-pulse-pulse. Until finely chopped.
5. Add chopped onion and cucumbers to bowl of purée.
6. Add most of the chopped yellow tomatoes to purée and the last ½ teaspoon of salt. Leave a small handful of the yellow tomato pieces for garnish.
7. Cover and chill in fridge for an hour to allow flavors to meld.
8. Cut off all the peel of the grapefruit including all of the pith, the bitter white inner skin. Chop the grapefruit into ¼- ½ inch pieces, avoiding the seeds.
9. To serve, place in small bowls or shot glasses and top with a few pieces of grapefruit, a few pieces of yellow tomato and a pinch of basil strips.