Before the season changes can be a tough time to cook. The tomatoes are dying off, the fall veggies aren’t coming in yet, and it seems like I’ve made everything already. Of course this isn’t true so I sat down with my cookbooks and looked through the summer sections. In A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen I came across a recipe that sounded yummy and promised to be pretty and summery, too: Chilled Curried Yellow Squash Soup with Cilantro-Lime Puree.

Despite my moaning about fall crops not coming in yet, cilantro has made a reappearance at the market. Summer squash is still plentiful as well. I ended up using a spaghetti squash for this recipe, but any summer squash should work. Bishop says, “You can use zucchini instead of yellow squash (the flavor is much the same), but you’ll lose the visual contrast between the yellow soup and the green puree.” If you are concerned about color, just peel the dark green skin of the squash lightly. I think the color mainly comes from the turmeric in the curry powder, so you just don’t want to dilute that.

I did use a Yukon Gold potato in place of the russet called for. It’s what I got from the market and I assumed it would help lean the color towards yellow. Also, this soup is plenty flavorful with just water, in case you are out of broth. The last tweak I made was to use butter to sauté the onion and squash – ghee would have been even better.

Since some of my kids are suspicious of cold soup, I was short on time, and Bishop says, “This subtle soup is delicious hot,” I chose to serve it hot for supper and cold for lunch the next day. I do like it best cold, though in cooler weather hot might be nice. The cilantro-lime puree keeps well in the fridge, but it’s prettiest immediately after blending.

This recipe inspired me to make various other curry-laden dishes for supper, including Kohlrabi with Peas and Potatoes from Simply in Season (recipe to come!).

Chilled Curried Yellow Squash Soup with Cilantro-Lime Puree

From A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ pounds yellow summer squash, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced gingerroot
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
6 cups vegetable broth
1 medium russet potato (about 8 ounces), peeled and diced
Salt
½ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon lime juice

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the squash and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the ginger, garlic, and curry powder and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth, potato, and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potato is very tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until very smooth. Adjust the seasonings. Transfer the soup to an airtight container, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least several hours. The soup can be refrigerated for several days.
3. When you are ready to serve the soup, puree the cilantro, lime juice, and remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a blender until smooth. Add salt to taste.
4. Taste the chilled soup and adjust the seasonings, adding salt as needed. Ladle the soup into small bowls. Drizzle some cilantro puree over each bowl and serve.

Serves 6 to 8 as a first course

Go here for a printable recipe