It is wicked hot today. Sweltering. Stifling. Please-can’t-I-live-in-a-swimming-pool hot. I have parked in front of a fan for the duration because somehow hot air that moves is better than hot air that doesn’t. Phew.

Thankfully we had warning of this heatwave, and I’ve been preparing so I wouldn’t have to cook when the house already feels like an oven.

I’ve been filling the fridge with herbal teas, and the freezer with homemade popsicles. The chilled cherry cranberry soup I made earlier makes beautiful popsicles when frozen. Creamy, tart, and not too sweet.

cherry cranberry popsicles

But we cannot live on popsicles alone, so I made a bunch of veggie dishes that could be chilled and eaten cold as we sit melting in front of the fan.

Breakfasts start with smoothies followed by cold boiled eggs and sauteed asparagus, silverbeet, and tomatoes from the garden.

garden breakfast

Lunches are an assortment of chilled veggies – boiled carrots with dill, steamed broccoli with lemon pepper, capsicums and yellow cherry tomatoes – with sharp cheddar and sliced apples.

dilled carrots

By the time dinner rolls around, we’re so hot we can’t hardly think of eating, so chilled soup really hits the spot. We started with gazpacho, beautifully savory with tomato, cucumber, red capsicum, celery, and dill. I also like creamy carrot soup with ginger or curry or dill.

Tonight we’re having chilled roasted beet soup with horseradish cream. I love root veggie soups made with roasted veggies – turnips, parsnips, Swedes, rutabagas, etc. They’re nourishing, comforting, and, when cold, a great way to get lots of vitamins and minerals in your body when you really don’t want to eat much.

For the beet soup I roasted a big pan of beets my friend Tracy gave me, and a lot of garlic until the beetroot was tender and the garlic soft and caramelized. It smelled amazing.

beets for roasting

Pureed with chicken stock and dill it became thick and marvelously rich, especially when topped with cold Greek yogurt mixed with grated horseradish. Just the thing to nourish us in the midst of a heatwave.

chilled beetroot soup

What do you like to eat on a blazing hot day? xo