Tonight's Dinner: Summer vegetable soup recipe

For some reason there's been a nonstop heat wave in Southern California for weeks now. Every time the weather forecasters say it's ending, another offshore flow or something sweeps in and bakes us for a few more days. So, when it's this hot, the last thing I want to do is cook. I mean, it's already hot enough in my house thanks to no air conditioning and the hot afternoon sun streaming into my living room, so why in the world would I want to turn on the oven or stove and make the thermometer climb even higher. It's on days like these that I make a salad or a cold soup like gazpacho. But since there are only so many ways to make gazpacho, I'm always on the lookout for other cold soup options, which is why I was thrilled when Fine Cooking magazine listed a recipe that not only used fresh vegetables, but was made with buttermilk. It was rich and creamy without being overly heavy. And because it was ice cold, it was quite refreshing, making it the perfect dinner option for an evening when the temperature's been in the triple digits.

Summer vegetable soup

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 ear of corn
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes
• 1 Japanese cucumber, chopped
• 3 tablespoons dill, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the corn kernels off the ear of corn and set aside.
2. Whisk the buttermilk and yogurt together in a large bowl. Stir in the tomatoes, corn, cucumber, dill, salt and pepper. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Ladle into bowls and serve.

More Tonight's Dinner recipes >>

Other buttermilk recipes

Basil buttermilk dressing
Buttermilk pie
Raspberry buttermilk muffins