Cooking Floyd: Soup for Summer

Even though we've had some wonderfully comfortable summer days lately the heat and humidity still show up to remind us that fall temperatures are still a ways away.  You know.  When all you do is walk down to the mailbox and the sweat beads up and rolls into your eyes?  Those are days when I just don't want to cook or eat anything hot.  I want a chilled soup other than gazpacho.  This one came in the mail from a website called Tasting Table and since it was one of those days, I had to try it.

It's a keeper.

Melon-Basil Soup with Cucumbers Pimentón

Ingredients

½ honeydew melon--peeled, seeded and roughly chopped (about 4 cups)

1 English cucumber, seeded--¾ of the cucumber roughly chopped, ¼ finely chopped

1¼ cups fresh basil leaves

¼ ripe avocado, roughly chopped

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 5 to 6 limes)

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

2 ice cubes

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (pimentón)

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

To a blender, add the melon,

 

roughly chopped cucumber,

basil, 

 avocado, lime juice, 

½ teaspoon of the salt and the ice cubes and purée until completely smooth.

Strain the purée through a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium bowl.

In a small bowl, add the finely chopped cucumber, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, the smoked paprika and olive oil and stir to combine.

Divide the soup among 4 bowls and serve.