Recipe: Chilled Berry Soup

It's about 100 degrees here in Vermont.  That's not ok with me.  We are all melting a little.  Ok, a lot.

At my work, the cafeteria has a cold strawberry and yogurt soup every once and a while, and I thought it would be a really refreshing thing to use as inspiration.  Plus, the loads of vitamins in this fruit laden dinner make me smile.  Good for a couple of kids that have little colds.

And, it would be fabulous in a thermos for lunches.

I used half lemon juice and half lime juice, because I ran out of lemon juice, but it would have been better with all lemon juice.  As it was, the kids thought it was too tart.  Then, I realized that I used too much anyway.  Twice as much as I needed to.  I could have just used the lemon juice.  I'll just put lemon juice in the recipe I'm posting.  I had to stir in some whipped cream.

What a shame.

I also used maple syrup as sweetener, but you could use honey.

It's kind of like a thinned out smoothie, and it's delicious.  I served it with tortillas that I sprayed with cooking spray, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and baked at 375 until crispy.

Chilled Berry Soup

3 c mixed fresh or frozen berries (I used Costco's Triple Berry Blend - blueberries, raspberries, and marionberries)
1 c cran-raspberry juice (100% juice)
1 c non-fat vanilla greek yogurt (I ran out of homemade, so I used Chobani)
1/4 c lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
a dollop of sour cream, creme fraiche, or whipped cream for garnish (optional)

In a blender on high speed, puree the berries and the juice together until smooth.  If the berries are frozen, it may be rather slushy.

Strain the puree to remove any seeds or skins.

(You could use a chinois (I couldn't find mine!), a strainer, or if you are like me and have way too many gadgets, the juicer insert for your food processor and whiz it right through!)

Transfer the strained puree back to the blender.  Add yogurt and lemon juice and blend until smooth.  Add honey or maple syrup to taste.

Chill, and then serve, with garnish if desired.