There's nothing more refreshing on a warm, summer day than a bowl of cold soup! With crusty bread and a green, leafy salad, it can be lunch, an appetizer, or the main feature in a no-cook dinner. There are even some terrific dessert options. Cold soups come in two types -- uncooked and chilled, or cooked and chilled. A big plus is that they free the cook from last-minute preparation, since they require several hours of chilling and should be made hours or even a day in advance. Serve in chilled clear bowls or cups for a pretty effect.
1. Polish Creamed Beet Barszcz - Barszcz Zabielany
© 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
Barszcz is the Polish generic term for any sour soup. Beet barszcz and white barszcz, made with kielbasa-cooking water, are the most common. This magenta-colored soup can be served warm or cold garnished with sour cream, dill and julienned beets, if desired.
2. Hungarian Chilled Summer Squash Soup Recipe - Hideg Kapros Tokleves
© 2009 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
Hungarisn chilled summer squash soup can be made with summer yellow crookneck squash or yellow zucchini, and lots of fragrant, fresh dill. Here's more about squash varieties.
3. Bulgarian Cold Cucumber Soup Recipe - Tarator
© 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.co, Inc.
Dill also takes a starring role in this Bulgarian cold cucumber soup recipe. But this refresher also features walnuts, garlic and bread.
4. Polish Strawberry Soup Recipe - Zupa Truskawkowy
© 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
Polish strawberry soup is another instance of a fruit soup that can be eaten hot or cold. Serve with noodles or croutons and a garnish of sour cream, if desired.
5. Balkan Chilled Eggplant Soup Recipe
© 2009 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
The Mediterranean influence is felt in this Balkan chilled eggplant soup which features roasted veggies, good-quality olive oil, garlic and buttermilk.
6. Hungarian Cold Sour Cherry Soup Recipe - Meggy Leves
© Flickr by Zugloi Lany
Hungarian sour cherry soup is traditionally made with tart dark-red Morello cherries, but a tart pie cherry, like fire-engine-red Montmorency cherries, will do in a pinch. In Hungary, cold sour cherry soup is served as a starter course, but in the United States, it often appears as a dessert, like the cold peach soup, below.
7. Hungarian Cream of Green Bean Soup Recipe - Teifeles Zoldbab Leves
© Flickr by Dynanet
This cream of green bean soup recipe can be served hot or chilled. The Hungarian paprika gives it a pleasant pinkish color.
8. Polish Beer Soup Recipe - Polewka Piwna or Zupa Piwna
© 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
This Polish beer soup recipe can be served warm on a cold day or cold, to beat the dog days of summer. The alcohol cooks out and leaves the soup with that sour tang beloved of Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Russians.
9. Hungarian Cold Peach Soup Recipe - Hideg Oszibarack Leves
© Flickr by Britton618
This no-cook cold peach soup recipe can be served as a meal starter or dessert garnished with a dollop of whipped cream, a few diced peaches and a sprig of mint, if desired. The wine and apricot brandy add a nice dimension to this dish, but they are completely optional.
10. Polish Rhubarb Soup Recipe - Chlodnik Rabarbarowy
© 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.
Rhubarb is plentiful in Poland, so to find it in soup is not uncommon. In the heat of late spring and early summer, cold rhubarb soup was refreshing for the farmers returning from the fields for a quick noontime meal.
