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Soups for the summer - no meat or tomatoes

10 years ago

I'm planning my garden and think I need some inspiration for serving what would come out of it. I make lots of fresh tomato based soups but I'm looking for something different to try without tomatoes, and without using meat as an ingredient or for flavoring (bacon, pancetta, chicken stock, beef broth, etc.), hot or cold. Any ideas?
Nancy

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Comments (5)

grainlady_ks
10 years ago
As I mentally went through each month I harvest produce, there are soup recipes - cold and hot - for each vegetable when you start looking in the index of your cookbooks and do a search on each vegetable with "soup recipe" attached to it.

April: lettuce, radish

May: green onions, spinach

June: beans (snap), beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, eggplant, peas, potatoes, turnips

July: cucumbers, lima beans, melons, sweet corn, squash, tomatoes

August: peppers, onions

September - November: fall crops (many are a repeat of cool season crops) including beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, endive, kale, lettuce, pumpkin, radish, spinach, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes

I'm sure there are vegetables I've left out, but it's because I don't grow/eat them (such as asparagus, okra, watercress....).
-Grainlady
teresa_nc7
10 years ago
Hey, Nancy!

For summer meals, I think of cool soups like cucumber yogurt, white gazpacho, strawberry, fresh garden pea and spinach. In my mind, any summer vegetable that would make a good cold dip or salad could probably be made into a soup.

In planning your garden for seed purchases, I'd try growing butternut squash if you have room for it. There are lots of good butternut squash soup recipes out there. My favorite has apples, onions, and curry powder to flavor the soup. Broccoli and zucchini in hot soup recipes would also be nice for a change.

We've got a snow day today and my office is closed! Yipee! Stay warm and safe in this lovely snow.

Teresa
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nancyofnc
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Grainlady - that helps my soup menu planning a lot. I am always so busy in the summer I just grab stuff and wing it - not always successfully. But with the idea you gave me of cooking by harvest I can find the recipes now and line them up by month. What a great idea.
Thanks Teresa - the idea about converting dips to soups has my mind racing and I have to remember that fruits can be made into soup.
I have lots of room to grow whatever I want because my friend is going to grow for me the 200 tomato plants I usually have so that I can rotate my soil to grow other crops. I love butternut squash but have had a big problem in the past with squash vine borers and cucumber beetles. Since it has been 5 years perhaps they went on to other gardens. I am also going to grow peanuts so those can be made into soup, I'm told.
Thanks again, both of you.
Nancy
ruthanna_gw
10 years ago
In the summer, I like soups that I can have cold one day and heat up another day. My favorites are a carrot-ginger bisque and a pea, watercress and mint combination.

And don't forget garlic. If you grow your own, you can always be sure of its source and a big pot of garlic broth can be used as a substitute for chicken broth in summer soups containing zucchini, spinach, etc.

If you google Spring Vegetable Soup, you'll get lots of other ideas.
bob_cville
10 years ago
A couple or years ago I posted a recipe for Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup that is simply delicious. The recipe calls for 3 cucumbers, but that it using the largest ones available from the store. With the smaller ones I usually get from my garden 4 to 6 cukes would likely be needed.

Makes about 36 oz which should serve about 6 as an appetizer

Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup

3 large cucumbers (peeled and seeded)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/3 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp crushed garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dill weed

After peeling and seeding cucumbers, chop them into 1/2" cubes and place in colander. Sprinkle all of the salt on the cucumber pieces and let sit for 10 minutes. (to draw out some of the moisture and any bitterness)

Next place salted cucumbers in food processor or blender with all of the remaining ingredients, blend until desired smoothness.

Chill for about an hour and serve.

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