Perfect Summer Soup: Cold Potato & Spinach Soup Recipe. Memories of Growing Up in Russia

It is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hot in DC. Yes, I realize I've lived here for a decade, but I still can't get used to the heat and humidity. I try to minimize the time I spend between one air conditioned place and another as much as possible.

But I still need to eat. This means I still need to cook. But turning on the oven or stove is not as appealing to me. This Cold Potato & Spinach Soup is perfect for this hot weather. The only cooking you are doing is boiling potatoes. The rest is just chopping, pouring and mixing.

Growing up in Russia, my mom made a cold summer sorrel soup with potatoes, cucumbers, buttermilk, etc. Unfortunately, sorrel is not easy to find in the States unless you go to the farmers market. And I'll be honest: after a night of salsa dancing, the last thing I want to do is wake up early enough to go to a farmers market.

So I adjust. If you can find sorrel, use it. If you can't, use spinach and add a bit of lemon juice to get the sour taste of the soup.

Cold Potato & Spinach Soup
Ingredients
6 cups water
2 cups peeled, cubed Yukon gold potatoes
3 cups packed spinach
cubed cucumbers
chopped green onions
sour cream (or buttermilk)
quartered hard boiled eggs
lemon juice
salt & pepper

Directions
1. Cook potatoes until tender. Add spinach, bring to a boil and take off the heat.
2. Let the soup cool completely in the refrigerator.
3. Add cucumbers and green onions to a bowl.
4. Pour the soup with potatoes and spinach.
5. Add sour cream, hard boiled eggs, lemon juice, salt & pepper to tastes.

Note: your eggs would fall to the bottom of the bowl. Mine didn't because I used a special trick for the sake of photographs ;)

If you love cold soups, make sure to check out my cold beet soup with buttermilk.

Have a great weekend and stay cool!