Cold Cucumber Soup

No-cook cooking—you do it more often than you realize, when you prepare a salad for a side dish or a sandwich for lunch. In fact, indulging in no-cook cooking, avoiding making your already-hot kitchen even hotter, doesn’t mean you have to become a raw food chef—it’s usually just a matter of moving side dish foods to the center of the plate or moving lunch foods to dinner.

In my house, for example, about once a week we make a clean-out-the-vegetable-bin salad, using up bits and bobs from that week’s trip to the farmer’s market. I’ll top the whole thing with a little protein—a chicken breast leftover from the night before or some already-cooked shrimp from a bag I keep in the freezer. The result is an easy, deliciously satisfying entrée, without breaking a sweat or hitting a McDonald’s!

Sandwiches are good no-cook options, too. To make them feel dinner-worthy, use artisan bread and fancy feeling, on-hand extras like roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes or tapenade. Avoid the usual mayonnaise and mustard and, instead, dress your sandwiches with a flavorful bottled salad dressing. Serve a no-cook fresh fruit or tomato-basil salad on the side and—cool, in every sense of the word.

And finally, there’s cold soup. You can make it with almost any fruits or vegetables you can think of—I remember my Mom going through an avocado soup phase—or even a combination. Just puree, maybe with a little juice, stock, yogurt, milk, buttermilk or cream, and season. You could also add a little acidity—lemon juice or vinegar—and an herb or two.

Serve your soup with a salad or sandwich. Then pour yourself and a glass of wine and toast to yet-another delicious no-cook accomplishment!