Studio 5: Seven Summer Soups

About mid-summer, I start craving soups and long for those cool, crisp Fall days so I can make hearty, thick and chunky soups to warm my soul.

Why was I waiting, when I had all the best ingredients growing in my garden in July?  Nothing tastes better than fresh-from-the-garden seasonal vegetables, but sometimes it's hard to even eat them all and they end up on a neighbor's front porch.

Since breaking my no-soup-in-summer rule, I am enjoying filling yet light, delicious, nutritious soups every. single. day.  Yup, you heard me.   It's a beautiful thing.  Every day, for lunch (and sometimes dinner) I stop.  Sit down.  Partake.

Yes, I know that's a lot of punctuation, but that is how passionate I feel about my soup habit.

In an effort to please a chef-friend of mine (Dean Tieleman)  who hates recipe preambles, let's get to the recipes and I'll tell you the 'rest' of the story a little farther down...because it's a good story and involves a resort, experimentation, a secret ingredient (which you'll probably figure out before you even get there, and weight loss.

There are A LOT of recipes here, so a lot of scrolling down, but let me just say I have a master vegetable soup recipe that is pretty much the 'bones' for all these recipes and more (that you yourself can create).  Soup is forgiving, so feel free to adjust anything here. 

• Oil (or butter) a Tbsp is usually enough.
• Aromatics (1 onion, or leek, garlic, celery or any combination)
• A pan full of vegetables (about 4-6 cups)
• 1 container stock (vegetable or chicken)
• 1 can coconut milk, 2% milk or yogurt
• Seasoning (Salt & Pepper to taste)
• Garnishing (optional)

Here's what I have for you today.

• Yellow Squash & Corn Soup
• Zucchini, Fresh Pea & Mint Soup
• Roasted Red Pepper Soup (Chef Sam - Movara)
• Asparagus & Kohlrabi Soup
• Roasted Tomato Soup
• Celery Cilantro Soup (Chef Sam - Movara)
• Roasted Cauliflower Garlic Soup

Yellow Squash & Corn Soup

I have a lot of Yellow squash in my garden, so I thought it would be nice paired with another yellow vegetable, sweet corn.  Pesto and Feta cheese adds a nice herbal / tangy note.  I LOVE this soup!  In fact, just had it for dinner with a small Grilled Pesto Gruyere Sandwich and Beet salad.

 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 
1 Cup Sliced Leek (About 1 large stalk).  Be sure to get any sand/grit out of leaves before.
3 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
4 Cups Yellow Squash (with skin on)
2 Cups Corn (roasted is even better!)
32 oz. container Vegetable Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste 
Garnish: Pesto & Feta Cheese

Sauté Leeks and garlic in oil until soft.  Add Squash.  Cook for 15-20 minutes until Squash is starting to char a bit and soften.  Add corn.  Add stock and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend soup thoroughly.  Return to pan and add coconut milk.  Season to taste.

Alright, that's far enough... Here's the rest of the story & secret ingredient.

Last year I spent a week at Movara, a fitness resort in Southern Utah.  One of the highlights there was Chef Sam's menu.  We looked forward to this each day.  Even in 100+ degree heat Sam always gave us a bowl of soup before lunch.

It was always delicious & creamy.  There was a pleasant, slightly sweet  flavor to it.  We knew it wasn't cream (it was a fitness resort after all!), but just could not figure it out.  Chef Sam revealed to us his special ingredient that he uses in a lot of his soups; Coconut Milk.

What is Coconut Milk?  Commonly sold in cans, Coconut Milk is derived  through the grating of a brown coconut, mixing it with a bit of water to dissolve the fat present.  

Coconut Milk has the consistency and mildly sweet taste similar to cow's milk and really does not taste like coconut.  Like Milk, it has different grades of fat in it.  I use light coconut milk to reduce the calories.  You can interchange regular milk if you wish.

Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I already had a great Roasted Red Pepper Soup, but this one is far easier and the flavor is still great.  Recipe by Chef Sam at Movara Resort/Ivans, UT.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil 
1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped (about 1 med. onion) 
3 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
4 Red Peppers (you can use other colors, but I like the color red)
3 Cups Stock (Vegetable or Chicken) I just use the whole
32 oz. in container.
1 can Light Coconut Milk (or 2% milk)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish: Fresh Basil, freshly ground pepper.

Cut stem from Peppers and shake out as many seeds as possible.  Sit peppers on a baking sheet, on some foil (for easy clean up).  Roast peppers in oven at 350 degrees for an hour or until skin of pepper starts to blister and turn dark.  Let cool a bit and chop up roughly.
Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in oil until soft.  Add peppers.  Add stock and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Blend soup thoroughly.  Strain soup through a fine sieve to remove seeds and skin.  This is a bit time consuming but very worth it as you end up with a velvety texture.
Return to pan and add coconut milk.  Season to taste.

Zucchini, Fresh Pea & Mint Soup

Inspired by the abundance of Zucchini in my garden, paired with Fresh Garden peas (but you could use frozen) and Mint.  Yogurt adds a nice tanginess.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped (about 1 med. onion)
4 Cups Zucchini (roughly chopped)
2 Cups Fresh peas
32 oz. container Vegetable or chicken Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
1 Cup Greek Yogurt
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish: Dollop Greek Yogurt, fresh cooked peas and mint leaf

Sauté Onions and garlic in oil until soft.  Add Zucchini.  Cook for 15-20 minutes until Zucchini is starting to char a bit and soften.  Add corn.  Add stock and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend soup thoroughly.  Return to pan and add coconut milk.  Season to taste.

Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup

This came to me as I was falling asleep.  Roasting Garlic really mellows the flavor.  Roasting in general intensifies flavors. Popcorn?  I remembered having popcorn as a garnish on some fancy Mac & Cheese in Dallas...thought it worked well here.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large head of Cauliflower (about 4-6 cups) cut into chunks
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
Cloves from 1 whole Garlic bulb, skin off.
32 oz. container Vegetable or chicken Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish idea: Toss popcorn in some butter and garlic seasoning
Garnish idea:  Grated Parmesan cheese and parsley or chives

Place all vegetables on a large baking sheet and drizzle with a Tbsp of Olive oil.  Move vegetables around with hands to distribute the oil a bit.  Roast in 350 F. oven for an hour or until vegetables are soft and charred a bit.  Add Stock and roasted vegetables to blender and blend thoroughly.
Pour into a soup pot and add coconut milk.  heat through.  Season to taste.

Celery Cilantro Soup

This is the soup that inspired me...served last year at Movara Resort in Ivans, UT.  Created by Chef Sam.  My daughter's favorite.

1 Tbsp Butter (or Olive oil)
1/2 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped (about 1 small onion)
2 Cups Celery(chopped)
3 cloves garlic
3 cups Vegetable Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
1 cup cilantro
1/2 cup parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Tbsp cornstartch + 3 T water = slurry

Sauté Onions, celery and garlic in butter until soft.  Add vegetable stock and let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.  When vegetables are fully cooked, remove from heat and add to a blender.  Blend well, then add cilantro and parsley and blend again.  Blend soup thoroughly, otherwise you'll get some celery strings.  Return to pan and add coconut milk.  Season to taste.

Roasted Tomato Soup

My old standby Roasted Tomato soup slightly modified.


1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped (about 1 med. onion)
4 Cups Garden Tomatoes (quartered)
4 cloves garlic
Fresh Thyme
32 oz. container Vegetable or chicken Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish idea:  Cut very thin slices from tiny tomatoes, lay on top of soup.  Add fresh Basil.

Place all vegetables on a large baking sheet and drizzle with a Tbsp of Olive oil.  Move vegetables around with hands to distribute the oil a bit.  Roast in 350 F. oven for an hour or until vegetables are soft and charred a bit.  Add Stock and roasted vegetables to blender and blend thoroughly.
Pour into a soup pot and add coconut milk.  heat through.  Season to taste. 
Optional:  I prefer to put this soup through a sieve.  It's luscious and creamy.

Asparagus Kohlrabi Soup

I was at the Salt Lake City Farmers Market back in June and was excited to see Kohlrabi, which is a bit hard to find.  Combined it with some asparagus I had in the fridge and it was a happy marriage.  Just make with Asparagus if you can't find Kohlrabi.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped (about 1 med. onion)
4 Cups Asparagus (roughly chopped)
2 Cups Chopped Kohlrabi (peel first)
32 oz. container Vegetable or chicken Stock
1 can Light Coconut Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish: Grilled Asparagus spears, freshly ground pepper.

Sauté Onions and garlic in oil until soft.  Add Kohlrabi.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  Add Asparagus and cook another 10-15 minutes until vegetables are soft.  Add stock and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Blend soup thoroughly.  Return to pan and add coconut milk.  Season to taste.