Soups and a salad

I totally love soups. They change with the seasons, and you can serve them hot, cold, smooth, silky, lumpy, etc. Almost any ingredient can find its way into a soup, and there's so much room for variation.

Zucchini mint soup
I'm not sure why I keep buying zucchini, since it's so disgustingly bland. It grills up okay, and isn't bad sauteed or in pasta, but it has no real virtues that I can think of. Except this one: cold zucchini mint soup. I first had this at Via Matta many years ago, and it was the first time I liked the vegetable. For this version, I also added a handful of basil, a few dollops of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper, and olive oil.


Tomato, watermelon, cucumber, and goat cheese
aka, variation on this summer's most trendy salad (tomato watermelon and feta). There's a slice each of watermelon and tomato, topped with cucumbers and Tomme de Fleur goat cheese, which is possibly my favorite. It's coated with tarragon, rosemary, and pink peppercorns, among other spices, and has such an elegant balance of tang, creaminess, goatiness, and spice.


Sweet potato soup with chorizo shrimp
We flavored the soup with onion and smoked paprika, and used a chorizo, garlic, and scallion flavored oil to lightly cook the shrimp. Mmmmmmmm. We ate this with a Manzanilla sherry. Double mmmmmmmm.


Hey, a non-pureed soup!
This one has cauliflower, fennel, onion, and carrot. I added a parmesan rind and some prosciutto ends to the broth, along with bay leaf and Italian seasoning. The broth had a great flavor, but the cauliflower was a bit bland. Oh well.