Food Stuff

Dinner at this time of year demands something light that won’t heat up the house, and the best solution I know is cold soup. There’s nothing quite like knowing you have a cold bowl of something delicious chilling in the fridge, along with a bottle of white wine—or, better yet, a crisp, summery rosé—to take the edge off a broiling afternoon. Gazpacho is a classic when tomatoes are at their best, and you can adapt it easily. Try changing parsley to cilantro and adding a little chopped jalapeno, lime juice, crumbled queso fresco and avocado slices for a salsa-like soup you can serve with tortilla chips. Or add a tiny bit of tamarind concentrate, ginger, and fresh mint and cilantro to the basic triumvirate of juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, and then top the soup with plain yogurt for an Indian version. Either twist, or a new invention of your own, will keep your evenings super cool.