A Cool & Fruity Passion Fruit & Cantaloupe Soup (It's Dessert!) for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Suspend all of those soup rules and prejudices you might have in your head! "Soup must be warm!"..."Soup isn't for summer!"... "Soup is always made with meat or vegetables!"..."Soup is just served for lunch or dinner!" Not true! As this pretty chilled, fruit dessert-soup proves so well and so deliciously too.

I found a few fresh passion fruit at the farmer's market last week and was looking through my "Tropical Fruit Cookbook" by Marilyn Rittenhouse Harris for new ideas. (The book is out of print now, but if you can find it, it's a great resource to learn and cook with tropical fruit--I found a used copy a couple of years ago at a library sale.) This recipe for Passion Fruit Soup blends the tangy-sweet fruit with melon and a few other simple ingredients. Although the recipe called for honeydew melon, I thought the color would be better using cantaloupe and managed to grab a locally-grown one at the farmers market this week.

The result is smooth, tangy, lightly sweet and perfect for a light summer dessert served with a couple of these Lime & Coconut Macaroons, a favorite quick cookie of mine from a recipe by Jill Dupleix. (The macaroons post is from a couple of years ago--very early into my blogging so excuse it please!) ;-)

Passion Fruit (& Cantaloupe) Soup

adapted from "Tropical Fruit Cookbook" by Marilyn Rittenhouse Harris

(Yields 4 cups)

3 passion fruit

3 cups honeydew melon puree (I used cantaloupe)

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup lychee or pineapple juice

Garnish: 3/4 cup plain yogurt, divided into 3 tablespoons for each soup bowl

Cut passion fruit and scoop out pulp. Puree pulp including seeds. Combine all ingredients and chill. Divide soup among four soup bowls and garnish with yogurt. Serve as a first course or as a dessert with a macaroon.

Notes/Results: Excellent! Refreshing and full of fruity flavor. The combination of the more tart passion fruit with the sweeter, mellower cantaloupe is delicious. Although this would work as a starter soup, especially for a spicy meal, I liked the idea of serving it as a dessert. I topped it with a scoop of non-fat Greek yogurt and also added a few small melon balls for some texture. It was suggested to serve it with a macaroon, and these Lime & Coconut Macaroons take just a few minutes to prep and about 12 minutes to bake--making this a very simple but elegant dessert that I will make again.

(For another fun fruit dessert soup--check out this Red Currant Soup that I made last summer.)

This fun, healthy, tropical dessert soup with locally-grown fruits is going to be linked to Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop Carnival at my pal girlichef's blog (and the blogs of some other wonderful bloggers) where real food is being celebrated each week.

Now let's see who is in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week:

Graziana from Erbe in Cucina has a bright and unique Tinda (Indian Round Gourd) Curry to share this week. She says, "I wasn't sure I will manage to grow the Tinda (Indian round gourd) because I had never cultivated any kind of squash or zucchini before that. However, I sowed it, transplant the plant, and then gently move his vines as they grew: that's all! I called it tinda on a hot roof: the first gourd is ready to be harvested. I chose an indian recipe for the first tinda. I used also a Banana Legs Tomato, because I liked the idea of using a yellow tomato in a recipe with turmeric, but you can use also a red tomato."

Reshmi from A Feast to the Eyes and Stomach made a hearty Lamb Goulash and says, "Goulash (pronounced as Gu-yash), has its name originating from Hungarian gulyas, the word for a cattle stockman. It was traditionally a thick stew made by the herdsman. Today it is prepared in both soup and stew forms with a variety of combinations of vegetables, onion and beef/lamb/pasta depending upon its ethnicity. Flour is used to thicken the goulash, which gives it a starchy texture and a blander taste. To sum it up, its a complete, wholesome and a healthy meal in itself, with the potatoes and flour providing the starch and the meat providing the required proteins for the body."

A big Souper Sunday welcome to Denise (aka Denny) from Oh Taste n See, joining us for the fist time this week with a gorgeous vegetarian Corn Chowder. She says, "This creamy stoup is corny goodness at its best. I didn’t think that I would get anything by simmering the cobs, but the milk tasted like corn milk. Kinda like coconut milk but with corn. It was spicy from the addition of the jalapeno, but the spiciness was well balanced by the sweetness from the corn and the milk. Pleasing to the palate as much as it was to picture!"

Another new face embracing corn is Kim from Liv Life who was so inspired by the flavors Reeni's White Corn Soup With Poblano Cream last week, she created her own Summer Corn Chowder. Kim says, "Using corn and poblano as inspiration, I settled for a recipe I found in Fine Cooking Fresh. I used their recipe as a guide and came up with something of my own that we truly enjoyed. ...Bacon was called for, but to make this more of a hearty meal I added some shredded chicken instead. All in all, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. Brian sat down and skeptically asked, "Is this one of your creations?" (I may have had a few that weren't so good...), but quickly after his first bite he proclaimed this new chowder a keeper!" Welcome to Souper Sundays Kim!

Let's also welcome Julie from Little Bit of Everything, making her first appearance at Souper Sundays. Julie made a comforting bowl of Potato, Leek and Fennel Soup and says, "Have you cooked with fennel? Except for a slaw we made in the cooking classes I took earlier this year, I've never cooked with fennel. I am fascinated by the anise flavor and the fronds. One of things I love most about cooking is finding recipes for ingredients I haven't used before. If you like potato soup, you'll love this soup. It's a kicked up version of potato soup. The fennel gives it a great flavor. It doesn't have a strong anise flavor, just enough to enhance the taste. I used russet potatoes, added garlic and shallots. Besides the flavor, I love that this soup is creamy without any cream!"

I'm also pleased to welcome Souper Sundays newbie Sayantani, joining us all the way from India and her blog A Homemaker's Diary. Sayantani made a healthy Chinese-Style Vegetable Soup with Rice Vermicelli from Kylie Kwong’s television show, My China. She says, " The dish that caught my eye was this soup stock or broth that she prepared from scratch and her choice of ingredients spelt ‘burst of flavour’ to me. My hands almost itched to try this one and when yesterday Hubby came home with a bag of fresh bok choy, celery and mushroom I instantly recognized the time. This soup is incredibly easy to put together all you need to do is, chop and boil. Within hardly 45 minutes we had two big bowlful of hot steaming aromatic soup ready in the table. The homemade chili oil accompanied it very well and we enjoyed our pleasing dinner watching the rain."

My pal girlichef is here with two recipes this week--a soup and a sandwich (the sammie is shown down below). Her soup is this colorful Chickpea & Sweet Potato Soup. She says, "One thing that's been on that list for the past month is cooking up something Ethiopian. One. Whole. Month. That's how long I've been sitting on this...pondering. My dish ended up more Ethiopian-inspired (flavors) than authentic Ethiopian, I think... Ahhh. And I really wanted to make some Injera bread to go with it. And I really wanted to make some Injera bread to go with it. That was really my main goal. BUT, my former omelette pan-slash-crepe pan is s-h-o-t SHOT. Soooo, instead I bring you a simple soup-ish (was going for a stew...sigh) Ethiopian-inspired dish..."

Lovely Pam from Sidewalk Shoes is here and with a flavorful Quinoa Salad with Scallops, Corn and Bacon. She says, "While cleaning out my freezer, I found a half a bag of those tiny scallops (I think they’re called bay scallops), so I used them. Once I found the scallops, I searched through pantry and fridge. I found some quinoa, bacon, and a couple of ears of CSA corn. If you don’t know about organic corn, let me tell you that it has worms. Big worms. After last summer’s worm scare, I now cut off the top 3-4 inches (and even then, I have cut a worm in half – ewww). This ended up being really good! So, good that I immediately went and added quinoa to my grocery list."

Creative Christine from Kits Chow made this simple, refreshing Jellyfish and Shredded Chicken Salad,手撕雞. Christine says, "Summer is finally here in Vancouver and we had a "lazy BBQ" on the weekend. I saw some jelly-fish and decided to make a jelly-fish and chicken salad.I prepare food from scratch but I let someone else handle the jellyfish. It doesn't seem difficult from what I read but, why bother, when one can get ready-prepared jellyfish all nicely-seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. The jellyfish was cut into strands, like pappardelle. They are translucent, crunchy and delicious. Chinese people think so highly of jellyfish that is served in the centre of a platter of appetizers at banquets."

Lori from Fake Food Free is making the most of her garden with this Sweet and Simple Tomato Pepper Salad. She says, "A single, fresh ingredient, whether meat or plant, matched with one spice, an herb or an oil can bring out more natural flavor than a recipe that includes 25 exotic ingredients. I am crazy about the little orange cherry tomatoes we have in our garden this year. They are so sweet you think you just popped a sugar cube in your mouth. In an effort to avoid taking away from their already delicious flavor, I’ve been including them in simple salads that mimic the flavors we had in Brazil. This specific salad isn’t exactly the same, but I wanted to use all the ingredients from our garden with lots of color."

Here with a salad and sandwich combination plate inspired by the Royal Foodie Joust and some favorite local ingredients, is Michelle from Ms. Enplace. She says, "I had a lot of fun not only working on the recipe for the Joust--Creole "Sauced" Sausage Po Boys, but working on adding local products to the whole meal. So you'll get the recipe for the Joust challenge as well as lagniappe (that's a little something extra, ya'll)! I'm a sandwich snob because I grew up eating Po Boys. Po Boys are one of my favorite regional foods so that seemed like the thing to make...an easy decision! promised lagniappe and here it is: Roasted Potato Salad. Sometimes don't you get tired of mayo heavy potato salads? I sure do. This "salad" is really just roasted potatoes and red onions that are dressed with a lighter Dijon mustard-lemon juice dressing instead of mayo. Only I use Creole mustard because it's spicier and I always have it in the fridge. Always."

For her second dish this week, girlichef offers up these hearty, healthy (& made with homemade cheese) Kale & Prosciutto Sandwich with Yogurt Cheese. She says, "I'm a simple girl. I like simple things. Like sandwiches. I like all the components separately...but I like 'em all put together, too. There's really nothing like sitting down with a fresh baked loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese, maybe some good meat or veg or fruit. I used some of it for shmearing...an activity I love doing...and saying. Shmear. I combined it with some freshly baked sourdough bread whose scent wafted in one of those cartoon-like drifts straight up my nose...beckoning me from a local bakery early this morning. The garden still has plenty of kale. I was craving prosciutto. And somehow a jar of pungeantly sweet sundried tomatoes ended up in my pantry suspicious."

Finally my friend Kim from Stirring the Pot answered the call of the sandwich and says, "Ever get one of those cravings that just won't go away and you have to satisfy it? Last week I was craving a Cold Italian Hero in the worse way and I simply had to have it. At the store I planned on just buying enough to make one or two sandwiches. Then it hit me....why not buy more fixings? It's the perfect no cook meal! These heroes were so tasty that we had no trouble eating them throughout the week. They were a delicious way to stay cool in the awful heat we were having. This is one serious and delicious sandwich and it certainly satisfied my craving!"

Wow! What a great turnout this week--full of new faces (Welcome all!) and my very best blogging friends. The perfect party--thanks to everyone who participated. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the sidebar for all of the details.

BTW--Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a $75.00 electronic gift certificate to spend on unique artisanal goods at the Novica website. Find the details here.