Whip this one up quickly! Chilly Peach Soup cools from head to toe

What a shocker to the old system! All our days last week were involved with a family trip to beautiful, colorful Colorado, in which the temps, though warm for this time of the year, weren’t 105 degrees as we are experiencing in Texas. One evening as we left for dinner, the thermometer registered 72. Talk about pleasant! When we exited the car at the Denver restaurant, the most exquisite cooling breeze blew about around us. People seemed generally happier; drivers were more courteous. No one had that, “It’s-been-triple-digits-for-days-with-no-end-in-sight-what-are-we- gonna-do?” look on his or her face.

Quick re-entry help was needed when we returned to the Texas furnace. I whipped up some Chilly Peach Soup, which had been on my must-make list to broaden my peach-recipe repertoire. You can’t imagine how soothing this dinner-starter dish was—the most delicious blend of peaches and nectarines with honey, nonfat plain yogurt, lemon juice, and cinnamon stirred in. The only difficult part was the peeling of all the ripe peaches and nectarines; I persuaded Hubby to do this tedious step. Then I stuffed the peeled fruit in the blender to puree until everything was mashed and liquid-y. After all the ingredients were folded in, I let the mixture chill in the fridge for about an hour. Not a long chill-time is needed, since the yogurt and lemon juice already are cold. I garnished with a few peach slices and a few sprinkles of cinnamon.

I could have been dining while seated in a meat locker and not have been more chilled. Chilly Peach Soup cooled from head to toe. Oh, and did I mention that the taste was absolutely divine? In this inferno, no one should be surprised that identifying cooling properties precedes the flavor attributes when one writes about a recipe. But the blend of pureed peaches and nectarines was memorable indeed.

Chilly Peach Soup

3 cups ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

2 cups ripe nectarines, peeled and sliced

2 cups vanilla nonfat yogurt

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Puree the peaches and nectarines one batch at a time. Add yogurt, honey, lemon juice, and cinnamon; stir well. Pour into bowls; garnish with peach slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Chill well before you serve. Makes 4 servings.

A-A-A-A, what begins with A? Asparagus-Avocado Soup saves a hot-weather day

Ah, asparagus! The vegetable of the month in Prevention magazine—and me with a goodly handful of asparagus recipes to try. So look forward to even more green (besides what’s posted from earlier this week) in this and future blog postings.

Prevention touts asparagus as supplying insulin, a special fiber that helps the “good” bacteria in the digestive tract. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits and is considered to be one of the world’s healthiest foods. Prevention featured seven quick recipes to showcase this wonder veggie; I chose recipe #7 (the perfect number) to prepare—Asparagus-Avocado Soup, because it called for two of my faves and sounded as though it would be a wonderful combination.

Into the food processor went 8 ounces of cooked asparagus and a chopped avocado, along with cold water, fat-free sour cream, fresh lime juice, and chopped cilantro. The resulting soup had the texture of gazpacho, but the addition of asparagus made the dish a little more mellow than that cold soup.

 Served with a scoop of fat-free sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro on top, it was a delicious hot-weather lunch treat with a few chips on the side for munching.

Asparagus-Avocado Soup

8 ounces asparagus

1 chopped avocado

1 1/4 cups cold water

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Cook asparagus. Add to blender with chopped avocado, cold water, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Puree until smooth. Season to taste. Ladle into 4 bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a few sprinkles of chopped cilantro. Makes 3 1/4 cups.