Summer’s First Blush
The succulent strawberry shines in Chilled Strawberry Soup laced with raw honey, red wine, and cardamom
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This strawberry soup dessert is simply outstanding-and also quite healthful. The yogurt is loaded with probotics, beneficial bacteria that help keep your gut healthy and your digestive processes running smoothly. Probiotics can also give your immune system a boost.
The raw honey-unlike that imposter that comes in the cute little bear-is a real food. It hasn’t been heated, so the natural enzymes are intact, and it tastes much better than the homogenized, pasteurized versions. And you even get bonus health points for the resvera-trol in the wine, a powerful antioxidant and antiaging compound. Enjoy!
Notes from Chef Jeannette
This low-fuss treatment of fresh strawberries turns a common early summer fruit into something special. Raw berry soups provide a lovely cooling finish to pungent entrées served on hot nights. We recommend picking your own strawberries for the freshest and most perfect selection. To store leftovers, keep them in the refrigerator as-is in the aerated cardboard picking carton-rinsing before storing will cause them to spoil more quickly.
*Strawberries routinely make the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of fresh produce that carries the heaviest pesticide loads, so we recommend always choosing organic. For the complete list, go to www.foodnews.org.
Chilled Strawberry Soup
Serves 6
1½ cups cold water
¼ cup dry red wine (such as Merlot)
2 cups fresh organic strawberries, stemmed, plus extra for garnish*
¼ cup raw honey
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
Mint leaves for garnish, optional
- Measure water and wine into container, and add 4 ice cubes to chill. Set aside.
- Rinse berries, drain well, and pour into blender or food processor. Blend or process until very smooth. Add the honey and yogurt, and pulse until well incorporated. Pour strawberry mixture into a serving bowl.
- Gently whisk in the water/wine mixture, straining discarding ice cubes. Stir in cardamom. Serve very cold, garnished with fresh strawberries and/or mint leaves.
PER SERVING: 81 CAL; 1 G PROT; 1 G TOTAL FAT (<1 G SAT FAT); 17 G CARB; 3 MG CHOL; 11 MG SOD; 1 G FIBER; 15 G SUGARS