Summer Soups and Salads

Temperatures are soaring, our will to spend time in the kitchen is waning, but still we need to eat! These dog days of summer call for light, fresh-tasting fare, quickly prepared. With produce at its peak, salads are an obvious answer, and soups — especially cold ones — are a welcome addition to any meal. 

Salads can consist simply of greens, hastily dressed with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice, good-quality olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. Try adding spicy watercress, endive or frisée to your usual lettuces. Or combine crisp vegetables such as cucumber, jicama, fennel bulb, red bell pepper, radishes and scallions along with tomatoes, diced small and dressed with white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of hot chile flakes for a delicious and healthful chopped salad. 

Main-course salads with some added protein might feature grilled lamb chops atop a salad of arugula or mache dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a touch of Dijon mustard. Cooked chickpeas and feta cheese lend substance to a salad flavored with a clove of minced garlic, pitted kalamata olives, a little chopped scallion and parsley, juice of a lemon, olive oil and a couple of teaspoons of olivada (black olive paste — purchased or homemade).

Spicy Asian beef salads are always a refreshing answer to a sweltering evening. Skirt or flank steak, marinated, grilled and thinly sliced, is delectable served over rice stick noodles and chopped cucumber mixed with fresh lime juice, fish sauce, thin slivers of serrano pepper, fresh mint, basil and cilantro leaves. 

Summer soups go way beyond the usual (often wonderful) gazpacho and vichyssoise. The most ordinary vegetables can be transformed into delicately flavored soups, embellished — or not — with a lashing of heavy cream, or buttermilk, for a lower-calorie option. Most are good either chilled or hot. The trick is to use an abundant proportion of vegetable and very little cream for more full-flavored results. 

Bistro Vatel chef/owner Damien Watel serves this impeccably fresh salmon salad with an exquisite vinaigrette. It’s fresh, cool and beautiful to behold. 

Bistro Vatel’s Salmon Carpaccio  
16 ounces fresh salmon fillet 
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard   
2 tablespoons capers   
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots   
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil   
4 tablespoons olive oil   
Juice of 2 lemons   
Sea salt and cracked pepper   
4 grilled slices French country bread   
Mixed greens for 4

Select 4 large plates. Slice the salmon as thin as you can (about the size of orange slices). Arrange them on the perimeter of each plate, leaving a spot for some dressed salad in the center. In a bowl, mix the mustard, capers, shallots, basil, oil and lemon juice. Using a pastry brush, brush the dressing on the salmon slices. Add sea salt and pepper. Dress the greens lightly and place in the center of the plate along with the grilled toast. Serve within 15 minutes of brushing the salmon. Makes 4 servings. 

At The Grill at Leon Springs, chefs Thierry Burkle and Tomme Johnson add a luscious Asian twist to vine-ripened tomato soup. Johnson notes this soup is great chilled.

The Grill’s Thai Tomato Coconut Soup    
2 tablespoons corn oil    
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic    
2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion    
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded    
2 cups light vegetable broth    (canned is fine)    
3 cups canned coconut milk     (unsweetened)    
2 tablespoons chopped Thai basil    
3 tablespoons finely grated ginger  
2 tablespoons prepared Tom Yum Paste (available at Asian markets)    
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro    
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

Heat corn oil in a 2-quart saucepan till hot, add garlic and onion, sauté till soft; add tomatoes and broth and simmer 20 minutes. Purée in blender till smooth, return to pan, and stir in coconut milk, ginger, basil and Tom Yum paste. Serve chilled, garnished with cilantro and green onions. Makes 6 servings. 

Chef Nancy Fitch of Peach Tree Café in Boerne makes this fabulous Italian Bread Salad, also known as Panzanella. It makes good use of day-old bread and features the excellent Campari brand tomatoes. 

Peach Tree Café’s Italian Bread Salad  
4 cups crusty Italian bread, cubed, tossed in olive oil and lightly toasted  
8 vine-ripe Campari tomatoes, quartered  
1/4 cup fresh basil, cut in thin trips    (chiffonade)  
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves  
1 whole seedless cucumber, cubed  
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced  
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cubed

Toss all ingredients together.

Vinaigrette:  
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar  
1/2 cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil  
1 clove crushed garlic  
Salt to taste

Whisk together. Toss salad with vinaigrette just before serving.