Cold Soups to Refresh a Hot Summer Day

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Soups to Tame the Heat

Many people associate soups only with damp and cold winter days. Not too many have, however, tried a cold soup on a hot summer day. Soups score over summer drinks always. For one, they are without sugar, and two, they provide you with those much-needed vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Soups are usually made with vegetables and fruits and often flavoured with herbs, so you get the best of all worlds.

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It’s All There in Your Kitchen

Most of these soups are made from ingredients readily available in Indian kitchens – tomato, yoghurt, peas, carrots, onions, butter and basil, lemon juice and cucumbers, all ingredients that are available round the year and can be prepared in advance and chilled in the refrigerator before serving. Along with garlic toast, they can make for a complete meal.

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European Favourites in India

European countries have specially perfected the art of making cold soups, especially Spain. Did you know that the ever-popular Gazpacho, salmorejo and ajo blanco are Spanish recipes that are now well-known across the globe? There is also a popular French creamy soup that is popular and made with a base of potatoes and leeks.

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Cucumber Soup

The best part is that if you make your soup without cream, you can have a dairy-free gluten-free soup that is full of vegetables, vitamins and nutrients. There is a soup based only on peeled and deseeded cucumbers, lemon juice, almond milk, a little garlic, basil leaves and spring onions. Chop, and blend together with water and serve cold.

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Spanish Favourite

The biggest favourite is gazpacho, a cold soup blended with more tomato, and some cucumber, capsicum, onion, cumin powder, salt and pepper. You can add some vinegar and olive oil before blending and serve chilled. Add a dash of tabasco if you want.

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The Goodness of Basil

Another popular variation of tomato soup is made with tomatoes and basil, a herb that you can easily grow in your own kitchen garden. Here is how to make it. Crush a couple of garlic cloves and roughly chop onions and carrots. Now cook in olive oil till slightly browned. Add in the chopped tomatoes, some basil leaves, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Cook again, then blend together and chill. Serve cold.

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Chilled Pea Soup

Then, there is chilled pea soup. Again, this is a simple soup made with peas, onions, salt, yoghurt, pepper and herbed oil and butter. Heat the butter and cook onions for a couple of minutes. Do not brown. Then add the salt and peas and cook till tender with some water. Turn off the heat and add the beaten yoghurt and blend. Now add pepper and chill.

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Try these variations

There are several variations possible. For instance, people add cashews to pea soup, celery stalks to gazpacho and some prefer adding noodles to a bowl of chilled tomato soup. You can serve it garnished with cream, basil leaves, or good coriander leaves. All these ingredients are available in most Indian kitchens.

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Summer Chillers

Even cold drinks are refreshing and are made from mango, mint, lemons, carrots, tomato and cucumber. So, skip the colas, synthetically flavoured juices and go for the real stuff this summer. You can flavour them with crushed stevia leaves, so you can still have them healthy and wholesome and packed with vitamins and nutrition.

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Battling the Summer Months

It’s getting hotter and hotter by the day. There is global warming all over and humans seem to have changed the climate of the world, and not for the better. Summer heat can leave you feeling tired and dehydrated, but with these healthy soups and drinks based on vegetables and fruits, you can keep dehydration at bay.

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