When blight wiped out my tomatoes a few years back, I made salsa out of yellow plums instead. And when the cold and rain kept my tomatoes from ripening, I started making a green gazpacho soup recipe instead of the traditional red. In the end, I always seem to end up thanking Mother Nature for pushing me to think and cook outside the box.

Green Gazpacho Soup Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeño, stemmed and seeded
4 large green tomatoes or 16 husked tomatillos, chopped
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Sea salt
2 scallions, chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

With food processor running, drop in garlic and jalapeño to mince. Turn processor off, add tomatoes and process to chop and combine. Add avocado, lime juice and vinegar. Process until almost smooth. Add basil and pulse to mince and combine. Season to taste with sea salt and serve topped with chopped scallions and a wedge of lime.

Serving Suggestion: For a zestier finished soup, add an additional jalapeño or replace the jalapeño with a hotter pepper such as a serrano.

Reprinted with permission from “Eat Clean Live Well“ © 2014 by Terry Walters, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Photography by Julie Bidwell

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This week summer came to the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in a while, leaving fog-drenched residents blissed out but panting from the searing heat. Seems to be the perfect time to eat chilled soup for supper.

When most of us think of cold soup, gazpacho, or perhaps chilled potato leek soup, comes to mind. But a look around the web reveals a rich treasure of creative concoctions using summer ingredients and flavor profiles.

Martha Stewart Living has a giant chilled soup section with a whopping 40 recipes for chilled soups.

My two top picks are the Cucumber-Buttermilk Gazpacho with crunchy Spain-inspired garnishes and the Chilled Corn and Coconut Soup.

If you’re like me, you’re still trying to think of creative ways to use the zucchini onslaught. This recipe for Chilled Zucchini Soup from Epicurious fits the bill.

I’m not crazy about gazpacho. The kitchen sink mentality of cooking evident in most gazpacho recipes always makes me feel like I’m spooning salsa into my mouth. The different vegetables don’t seem to ever hang together into a cohesive whole. However, while this Chilled Tomato Soup with Cilantro and Yogurt Swirl from Eating Well gives a nod to gazpacho, it sounds much simpler and way more interesting, due to the addition of smoky chipotle chiles and the well considered garnishes.

Main image: Ulterior Epicure via Flickr Creative Commons. Other images from Martha Stewart Living, Epicurous and Eating Well respectively.

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