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Chillin’ At Summer’s End With Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

Chillin’ At Summer’s End With Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

Who doesn’t need a little ice cream right now? This Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream is pretty special. Creamy with a real coffee kick! Living here in Southern California, I’m near Little Saigon in Westminster, California–the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. That gives me entree…

Hot Charred Tomatoes With Cold Yogurt

Hot Charred Tomatoes With Cold Yogurt

This has long been a “viral” hit among the many popular recipes in the Ottolenghi cookbook world. The Hot Charred Tomatoes With Cold Yogurt dish even graces the cover of one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, Ottolenghi Simple. You can buy the cookbook through your local bookstore…

Oldies But Goodies…Pavlova!

Oldies But Goodies…Pavlova!

Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.” Today’s Oldies But Goodies recipe is for a classic dessert, Pavlova.

Here is the link: Pavlova..

Want to dive deeper into our Pavlova. archive? Just click one of the categories at the top of this page or use the category search drop down menu on the right side of this page.

And…here is a link to Blue Cayenne’s main page:Blue Cayenne Food and Photography Blog. . If you are in the mood to cook (or eat!), we hope you will take a moment to look at the many excellent recipes we have featured.

Corn and Miso Pasta Salad

Corn and Miso Pasta Salad

OK. Who put miso in the macaroni salad? And corn? Doesn’t corn clash with pasta?  It was Ham El-Waylily of the New York Times and it is a brilliant move.  And, no, corn works beautifully with this macaroni salad.  This is an adaptation of a…

Cafe Sperl’s Plum Squares

Cafe Sperl’s Plum Squares

At my local farmers’ market, the stone fruits are winding down. The cherries are gone. The apricots are so ripe they’re squishy by the time you get them home. Peaches and plums, however, are still available in abundance.  As you know if you read this…

Soup in July? Lemony White Bean Soup

Soup in July? Lemony White Bean Soup

Soup in July?

Is that  even allowed? 

This is highly rated soup from Melissa Clark’s Dinner In One cookbook. You can order the book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

If, on the other hand, you are craving a cold soup to get you through the sweltering summer heat,  here is a really wonderful Cantaloupe Soup recipe. You’ll find the recipe here.

A soup doesn’t get a lot more beautiful or more creative. Jalapeños, mint and red onions…with cantaloupe???  Who woulda thought? 

 


 

Here is the recipe for the Lemony White Bean Soup as I prepared it in my kitchen. For my kitchen, I prepared this soup without the turkey called for in the original recipe.This is one of those perfect recipes for using pantry staples and the endless bounty of summer vegetables. 

 

Lemony White Bean Soup

July 10, 2026
Ingredients
  • 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion (diced)
  • 1 large carrot (diced)
  • 1 bunch spinach
  • 1 T. tomato paste
  • 3/4 t. ground cumin
  • 1/8 t. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
  • 3 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 11 T. fresh ginger (grated)
  • 1 t. kosher salt (or to taste)
  • 2 fifteen-ounce cans of white beans or equivalent cooked dried beans
  • 4-6 C. vegetable stock
  • 1 C. fresh herbs (parsley, chives and basil)
  • 1-2 chopped fresh tomatoes
  • Fresh lemon juice to taste
  • Grated Parmesan (for garnish)
  • Sourdough bread crumbs sauteed in butter.
Directions
  • Step 1 Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Saute the diced onion and carrot in the hot oil. You want the vegetables to brown around the edges. Once the vegetables are cooked this way, add the tomato paste, cumin and red pepper flakes to the pot and saute. You want the paste to darken. This will take about one minute.
  • Step 2 Add the garlic, ginger and salt to the pot and saute.
  • Step 3 Add the beans to the pot and the stock. Simmer until the soup thickens for about 15 to 25 minutes.
  • Step 4 Prepare the greens for your soup. Wash them carefully, trim off any stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. Add to the pot and continue to cook your soup until the greens soften.
  • Step 5 Stir in the herbs and the chopped fresh tomatoes. I used parsley and basil in my soup, but the original recipe gave a lot of options including mint, dill, tarragon, and chives (or any combination of these herbs).
  • Step 6 Stir the lemon juice into the pot. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
  • Step 7 Serve drizzled with more olive oiul. I topped my soup with grated Parmesan, a few chopped fresh herbs and sourdough bread crumbs that had been sauteed in butter.
A Dream Chocolate-Chocolate Poundcake

A Dream Chocolate-Chocolate Poundcake

If chocolate rocks your world, this is the cake for you.  It is decadently bittersweet with a poundcake texture. The frosting is to die for. For this recipe, I used  Callebaut Bittersweet Chocolate and Double Dutch Cocoa; both were purchased from King Arthur Baking.  This…

A Gorgeous Grilled Sweetcorn Slaw

A Gorgeous Grilled Sweetcorn Slaw

It’s summer! Woo-hoo! Right now, my favorite local farmers’ market is bursting with beautiful produce. What better way to showcase (and enjoy!) that bounty than by making a fresh salad?  Make that a fresh crunchy coleslaw and I’m in heaven. Make it beautiful and just…

Oldies But Goodies: Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho

Oldies But Goodies: Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho

Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.” Today’s Oldies But Goodies recipe is for Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho.

Here is the link: Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho,

Want to dive deeper into our recipe archive? Just click one of the categories at the top of this page or use the category search drop down menu on the right side of this page.

And…here is a link to Blue Cayenne’s main page:Blue Cayenne Food and Photography Blog. . If you are in the mood to cook (or eat!), we hope you will take a moment to look at the many excellent recipes we have featured.

Tahini and Chocolate Chunk Cake

Tahini and Chocolate Chunk Cake

Tahini.  Tahini is a nutty-flavored sesame paste. Think you are unfamiliar with tahini? In all likelihood, you’ve  probably enjoyed it in hummus or baba ghanoush.  For purists, the best tahini is made from ground and roasted humera sesame seeds from Ethiopia. This bias in favor…


All Time Favorites

Soup in July? Lemony White Bean Soup

Soup in July? Lemony White Bean Soup

Soup in July? Is that  even allowed?  This is highly rated soup from Melissa Clark’s Dinner In One cookbook. You can order the book through your local bookstore or on Amazon here. If, on the other hand, you are craving a cold soup to get you…

Oldies But Goodies: Turkish White Beans

Oldies But Goodies: Turkish White Beans

Beans! Glorious beans! This is an enthusiastic repeat recipe for Blue Cayenne. We originally featured the recipe back in May of 2024. Here is the link and the recipe: Turkish White Beans. This recipe is from Yasmin Khan’s cookbook, Ripe Figs: Recipes and Stories From Turkey,…

A New Look at Marcus Samuelsson’s Ethiopian Beans:  White Beans With Coconut Milk and Berbere

A New Look at Marcus Samuelsson’s Ethiopian Beans: White Beans With Coconut Milk and Berbere

Jose Andreas. Marcella Hazan. Jacques Pepin.  Elena Zalayeta Masaharu Morimoto Marcus Samuelsson. And on and on and on…and on. These women and men have enriched the American culinary world.  Immigrants all.  So here, in the spirit of recognizing  and celebrating the creativity, drive and good…

White Beans With Spinach and Parmesan

White Beans With Spinach and Parmesan

It’s October already and time to start thinking of cold weather comfort foods.  Nothing fits that bill quite like beans. This recipe combines Rancho Gordo alubia blanca beans with generous quantities of parmaesan cheese and chile crisp for a stewed bean dish perfect for those…

Good Memories: Bean Salad

Good Memories: Bean Salad

This recipe brings back fond memories of parties in my home. On my buffet table, a three bean salad was always a reliable dish–easy to put together, flexible, and interesting. Recently, my local Farmer’s Market has been offering beautiful yellow was beans that reminded me…