As August slips by, I try to cling to every sunny minute. Give me the dishes that require nothing more than the freshest local produce, good spices and no-cook recipes that I can whip up in my bare feet, music blasting away. The best summer meals are all about ease and simplicity.
Lately I’ve been making cold soups, whirred together in the blender, for a light dinner or appetizer to sip with cocktails out of a pretty cup. (Especially when it’s too hot for crackers and cheese.) The only trick is to make them hearty and flavorful enough to satisfy an outdoor appetite, yet light and breezy so they do not weigh you down.
As much as I love a good gazpacho or chilled cucumber soup, fruit soups offer a range of options, savory as well as sweet, especially those with a tangy and creamy yogurt base. Take sour cherry sour cream soup, a traditional Hungarian recipe specialty. It’s sweet enough for a pretty dessert, yet when whirred with fennel, it makes a gorgeous lunch or elegant first course.
If you have great peaches, take a cue from my Atlanta cousin, Jack. He marinates fresh peaches and dried apricots in a little vinegar, honey and good olive oil, then blends it with yogurt. The results are a beautiful, tangy-sweet, velvety soup for a luscious dinner when served with mozzarella and bruschetta that’s piled high with ripe tomatoes.
Note that the fruit in a soup is interchangeable. You can swap out peaches for nectarines, or cherries, or blueberries, or raspberries, or melons .