Cool off with some soup! (Cucumber-Yogurt-Mint will do the trick)

Soup can cool us down in summer as much as it warms us up in fall and winter.
   Serve a bowl of a cold summer soup before or alongside anything grilled, and it can be just as refreshing as an icy drink.
   Cucumber-Yogurt-Mint Soup (click for the recipe), a cold soup from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, caught my eye for two reasons.
   I’ve always had making a cold cucumber soup on the “make-it-one-day” checklist on the back of my mind, and this one had what seemed like a potentially interesting ingredient: Ground cumin.
   I was right about the cumin – it provided just a perfect little kick to this delicious soup. It’s a secret ingredient that will have people wondering just what you put in their bowl of creamy cucumber coolness to make it taste so good (besides the mint and cucumber, that is).
   Even though it provides a tiny kick, this soup is by no means hot or spicy. I can see young children giving this a try and maybe even liking it.
   The recipe makes “four side-dish servings” which translates into two regular servings. If you have more to feed, keep that in mind.
   Cucumber-Yogurt-Mint Soup is amazingly easy to make.
   A cucumber is peeled, deseeded and cut into slices.
   In a food processor or blender (I used a food processor), the cucumber, plain low-fat yogurt, lime juice, honey, cumin and salt are processed until smooth.
   At this point, the recipe says to add snipped fresh mint and stir it in. Rather than do that, I tore the fresh mint up a bit, added it to the blended mixture and ran the processor for a few seconds more until the mint was finely chopped.
   The soup is transferred to a container and covered and chilled two to 24 hours before serving.

Cucumber-Yogurt-Mint Soup can also be found in the cookbook Better Homes and Gardens Garden Fresh Meals.