"CURRY" FAVOR WITH A MINTY MELON SUMMER SOUP

Preparing to Make the Summer Soup

When it's too hot to cook, it often feels too hot to EAT! Sometimes a plump, juicy, dripping summer peach is all you want..but unfortunately, need more.

Cold soups are a great antidote to enervating summer heat. Asparagus with Dill, Minted Pea and Sour Cream, Classic Vichyssoise...tempting? Gazpacho, too, with it's savory tomato base and crunchy vegetables can enliven a hot and humid mealtime. Yet even these delicious, nutritious soups, some made with cream and Classic Andalusian Gazpacho, made with bread, can be heavy on the palate.

Minty Melon Summer Soup, an adaptation of a recipe from the New England Culinary Institute, is the answer for times like these. It is cool, crisp and refreshing. The mellow colors soothe, and the tangy, not too sweet, liquid hydrates. Enjoy alone, or as a prelude to a chicken or seafood salad.

MINTY MELON SUMMER SOUP

2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cut into pieces
2 cups watermelon cubes, seedless

Pulse these in the food processor or blender.

Dice nicely and add:
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red onion

Chop and add:
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper
2 tablespoons mint
1 tablespoons cilantro

Add:
grated zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 limes
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup champagne vinegar or mild white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce or to taste

Chill thoroughly (best in the freezer for 5-10 minutes) and serve.

Of course, this brings to mind another Melon Soup and another Happy Cookers tale.

IT was a wedding reception in the bride's summer home, a "cottage" on the waterfront, you know, the type which seats 80 for lunch in the living room and adjacent wrap around porch.
The scene is set.

We served a sit down, plated luncheon beginning with a chilled Curried Melon Soup. It was a classic, with Granny Smith apples and Persian Melons pureed with chicken stock, cream and bright yellow curry spices, garnished with pistachios and garlic chives, beautiful to see.

After lunch had been served, I believed without a hitch, I noticed a tall, rather imposing figure dressed in a white tuxedo heading towards me. He had a determined gait and matching countenance. Was that a scowl? "Oh, no, I thought, what went wrong with lunch?" I was fearful.
He did not greet me, just pointed to a large yellow stain on his tuxedo repeating several times, "Do you see this?!" I stuttered, "Yes, Sir, I am so sor..." He interrupted, "That soup was so grand, it was worth THIS! Thank you!"

Sigh...another happy ending.

Some other suggestions for hot weather meals...

Grilled Swordfish Nicoise Salad

A grilled Swordfish, or Tuna or Salmon on a bed of greens with green beans, olives, potatoes and other veggies in a French Dijon Vinaigrette, always welcome. Add grilled bread and/or hard boiled egg quarters for heartier version.

Tomato Mozzarella Pesto Salad

Fresh summer tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives and a lemony pesto dressing on greens, a meal in itself or add chicken or shrimp from the grill...no hot kitchen involved.