5 Great Summer Soups

The hot weather brings many great things including lots of great tasting fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden. One way to take advantage of the bounty and avoid a hot kitchen is to make a refreshing summer soup.

Whether you get your vegetables from your own garden or the local farmer’s market, nothing beats the taste of fresh fruit and veggies that comes with summer.

I find that in the hot weather, I tend to want to avoid spending a lot of time sweating in front of the hot stove and I want lighter meals. We eat a lot of salads with grilled meat and vegetables in the summer and we indulge my love of summer soups.

Summer soups tend to be light and heavy on the fruits and vegetables. They are often also served cold which can be refreshing on a hot day. They make a great lunch or light supper.

Most of them are also light on calories, particularly if you choose to use light milk or sour cream.

Here are five great summer soups that are easy to make.

1. Chilled Spiced Peach Soup

This one originated in the Canadian Living Kitchens. It takes advantage of one of summer’s juiciest fruits.

  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • 4 cups of peeled and sliced fresh peaches
  • 1 cup of peach or mango juice
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • 2 TB liquid honey
  • ¼ tsp cardamom
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch salt
  • Pinch ground cloves
  • ½ buttermilk or plain yogurt (I use fat free and it tastes great)
  • 2 TB amaretto or apricot brandy

In a small frying pan, toast the almonds for about 3minutes. Stir them often and remove from heat when they look golden. Set almonds aside.

In a large saucepan combine everything except the almonds, buttermilk and amaretto. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about twelve minutes, until peaches are very soft. Let it cool.

Once it has cooled, puree it in the blender in small batches. Put it all in a large bowl and mix in the buttermilk and amaretto. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours. Sprinkle with toasted almonds before serving. I like plain tea biscuits with it. Serves 6.

2. Cool Cucumber Soup

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This one comes courtesy of Country Living. I know cucumbers don’t have tremendous nutritious value but they taste so good.

  • 3 medium, seeded cucumbers, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • ¾ cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1 TB lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp salt (sea salt is best)
  •  ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
  • ½ sour cream (fat free is fine)

Place everything but the sour cream in the blender and puree. Stir in sour cream and refrigerate until very cold (at least an hour). Serve topped with extra cucumber slices, green onions and lemon zest. Serves 4.

3. Lucky’s Gazpacho

This gazpacho is a bit like a cold vegetable soup. Lucky is one of the talented home cooks on All Recipes.com. It’s a great soup to use up garden vegetables.

  • 2 chopped plum (Roma) tomatoes
  • ½ of a chopped cucumber
  • ½ of a chopped green bell pepper
  • ½ of a chopped red bell pepper
  • ½ of a chopped red onion
  • 1 minced clove of garlic
  • 2 cups of tomato juice
  • 2 tsp of beef bouillon granules
  • ½ tsp each of dried basil and oregano
  • ¼ tsp each of celery salt and table salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ tsp each of Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar

Puree vegetables and garlic in blender for about 30 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and pulse a few more times so it is thoroughly mixed. Chill at least an hour before serving. It tastes best if you make it the day before and let it chill overnight. Serves 4.

4. Avocado Soup

As you know, I love avocados. There’s something decadent about that silky fruit. Mix it with cucumbers and I’m in heaven. This soup is really low calorie and low in fat as well.

Credit for the recipe goes to Alanna Kellogg of the Veggie Ventures blog.

  • 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 1 seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • 1-2 green onions, chopped – use only the white base and the lightest green part, save the rest for garnish or use in a salad
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 TB honey or agave

Puree all ingredients in blender and chill at least an hour before serving. Serves 2.

5. Corn Chowder

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This last soup comes from the Barbara Bakes blog. It’s a hot soup but it makes great use of corn, which is one of my favourite late summer vegetables.

  • 6 ears of fresh corn
  • 1 medium potato, diced (I leave the skin on – it’s good for you but you can peel it if you want)
  • 4 slices cooked and chopped bacon
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 TB butter
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 4 cups milk (or half-and-half)

Shuck the corn and cut the kernels off the cob. You can do this by standing an ear in a wide bowl and cutting downward with the knife. Run the flat side of the blade along the cob afterwards to get the corn milk out of it.

Don’t be alarmed if you don’t get much, some cobs have more than others. Take the naked cobs and put them in a pot with a tight fitting lid along with 2 cups of water. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and bring it to a boil.

Lower the heat, cover it and let it gently boil for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and set it aside.

In a deep soup pot, melt the butter and add in the onions. Cook them on medium-heat heat for about a minute, until they begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the flour.

Cook it, stirring constantly until the flour looks golden and no longer smells raw. It should only take a few minutes. Remove the cobs from the broth and discard them. Add the milk and corncob broth to the soup pot and increase the heat to medium-high.

Stir or whisk constantly until the flour has fully dissolved and the mixture begins to thicken – about 2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring it to a boil.

Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Adjust seasoning as desired and serve. Serves 4.

Summer soups are easy and light. They make a great break from salads and grilled vegetables and still let you enjoy the best your garden or farmer’s market has to offer. Soup is served. 

Cover photo: smithratliff.com

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About the author

Heather B

Heather is an avid traveller, lover of dogs, and baker supreme. She lives in a small town in Ontario, Canada where she raises German Shorthaired Pointers with her family. An explorer at heart, she travels whenever she can, wherever she can.

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