Finally things are starting to cool down, and when “soup weather” is upper 70’s, you know we have a problem. But hey, this blog is about the food, right? And it felt good to make some soup last night and eat some for lunch today. Not the open a can type of soup, but the real, from-scratch kind. And as with most of my recipes for this blog, I try to keep things simple, so here is how I made it…..

Ingredients
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast half, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt and pepper
1 carton (32 oz.) chicken broth
1/2 cup quick cooking barley
1/2 tsp. each–dried basil, oregano, thyme
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of onion powder

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken, and stir until browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add carrots, celery and onion and stir/cook for about 3-4 minutes, adding a generous pinch of both salt and pepper. Add chicken broth, barley and spices, and bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover loosely and simmer for about 15 minutes. You can add more broth or water if the soup is too thick. Serves 4, or 2 really hungry people.

That’s it–simple and it tastes really good! I should add that I really like Trader Joe’s Free Range Chicken Broth. It really makes the soup.

Well, not just for dudes, but I posted this on Grub for Guys a couple years back and it’s definitely dude-friendly, thanks to my secret weapon, Buffalo wing sauce. The weather reached almost 90 degrees here in Wisconsin earlier this week, so it’s time to start thinking about warm weather fare. So try this one when you have one of those steamy days….

It’s summer, and you can either embrace that or bide your time until fall. Either way, you can help yourself by eating foods that are warm weather fare—grilled steaks, chicken, salads, and cold pasta are always good choices. And if the thought of cold soup doesn’t scare you, gazpacho is one of the best summer foods, and it’s very easy to make. Here, I came up with my own version that includes a few non-conventional ingredients like avocado, cilantro and Buffalo wing sauce. Give it a whirl in your blender and on your taste buds and let me know how you like it. With that, here we go…..

Ingredients
1 ½ cups tomato juice or vegetable juice such as V-8
3 medium size tomatoes
½ small green pepper
1 celery stalk
½ medium cucumber
1 medium raw jalapeno pepper
1 small avocado or ½ of a large one
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. commercially made Buffalo Wing sauce
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
½ tsp. Kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Directions
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and squeeze the pulp and seeds out, then coarsely chop the flesh. Seed the green pepper and coarsely chop. Remove the strings from the celery and coarsely chop.
Peel and seed the cucumber and coarsely chop it. Seed and chop the jalapeno, using kitchen gloves if possible (or washing your hands immediately afterward…..I hope I don’t need to tell you why!). Then cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and discard the pit and rind. Put all of the vegetables in a blender along with the tomato juice, olive oil, vinegar, wing sauce, cilantro, salt and pepper. Blend or pulse briefly until smooth (shorter time if you prefer a chunkier soup). Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, but you can serve as is if you’re hungry. Serves 4.

Chef’s note: Before making this, make sure you have a loaf of crusty bread and a good summer beer such as Corona on ice. Now you’ve got a meal!