Cooling Cold Soup

Chilled Avocado Soup takes advantage of avocado's naturally thick and creamy texture to make a luxuriously rich soup. Lime and cilantro brighten the richness. Serving it cold takes the edge off summer's worst heat.

Sweet, earthy spring beets become a refreshing chilled soup in this easy, flexible recipe. Serve it pureed smooth or leave it with pieces of grated beets floating in the sweet, red broth.

This combination of yogurt and cucumber (kicked up with a bit of garlic and dill or mint) cools on several levels. It's tasty before a grilled meal or on its own with some bread and a tossed salad.

By grating the corn off the cob, you avoid having to strain this soup to remove excess husky or fibrous kernels. The bit of onion adds sweetness; the potato adds body. If you're feeling fancy, garnish this soup with minced roasted chile, chopped cilantro, or diced avocado or tomato.

Cold Zucchini Soup accomplishes two goals for many local foods eaters (especially gardeners): it is a delicious cooling meal on a hot summer's day and it uses up plenty of prolific zucchini.

This recipe for Minted Green Pea Soup can be served hot or cold. You can stir in the cream - as pictured here - as a garnish, or omit it - the soup is rich and "creamy" all on its own.

Spanish Tomato Gazpacho soup is smooth and subtle and perfect for hot summer days. It's smooth texture comes from pureeing and straining and then letting it chill for several hours – the bit of advance work is totally worth it! Serve with chopped cucumber, diced red pepper, cubed ham, black olives, chopped hard cooked, and/or minced red onion to garnish.