Beating the heat

Now that it's summer, I'm going crazy with salads and cold soups!  I live in Spain so Gazpacho (cold fresh tomato soup with cucumber, onion and bell pepper) is always available and I also like to mix melon and cucumber with a little water and some mint in the blender to make a sweet melon soup.  And the salads, ah the salads..... any kind of good flavorful greens (spinach, arugula, mâche, radiccio, etc.) with fresh cut fruit, some nuts or seeds, assorted veggies and just a touch of blue cheese with a mustard seed vinagrette is one of my favorites I can eat over and over again with light variations.  Salads are also a great way to get rid of leftovers, you just need a little imagination to figure out what goes with what.

My recipe for delicious mustard vinagrette  (lots less fat and calories than store bought vinagrette and takes about 1 minute to make):

Take a small (baby food or small jelly sized) jar and fill it with 1/3 olive oil, 1/3 vinegar (balsamic is good but use sherry or white wine for less calories), a teaspoon of whole grain mustard and a half teaspoon of dijon.  Add salt and fresh ground pepper and herbs or spices if you like (it's nice with rosemary, thyme or garlic powder).  Shake the jar up until everything's mixed evenly and immediately pour 1 tbsp. on your salad.  Toss and enjoy!!

The rest of the vinagrette in the jar will last for more than a month tightly sealed in the fridge.

i usually forget about cold soups!

i do love a nice fresh gazpacho

but the weather here has just turned crisp and cool and it's making me want hot soups

great idea on the salad dressing in the jar - thanks for sharing that tip!