Serves 2 to 4 as a first course

10 minutes prep time; no stove time

Make this a day ahead and keep it chilled

What’s not to love when with an e9ortless twist, a dish becomes

something brand-new? Puree the Thai Cantaloupe Salad with Chile with an adjustment or two, and you will have a soup that is heaven

in a bowl at the end of a steamy summer commute home.

Icy and gorgeously orange, this puree is Fecked with the bright

green of fresh-grated lime zest. When you get down to eating the

soup, you pile in extras of red onion, green chile, and fresh basil.

It’s an uncommon mix that always delights.

Track down a truly sweet cantaloupe for the soup. The

commitment will pay back tenfold. A melon’s fragrance tells you

everything you need to know: if it smells sweet, almost perfumed,

you have a good one. If a melon has no scent, it will have no flavor.

One 2½-pound intensely sweet-smelling ripe

cantaloupe

2 cups ice cubes

Generous pinch of salt

4 or 5 grinds of black pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

Juice of 2 large limes (about ½ cup)

Grated zest of ½ large lime

FINISH

1 or 2 jalapeños, seeded and cut into fine dice

10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, coarse chopped

½ medium red onion, cut into ⅛-inch dice (optional)

1.Cut the melon into quarters. Scoop out its seeds and trim away

the rind. Slice it into chunks and put them into a food processor.

Add the ice, salt, pepper, sugar, and lime juice, and puree. Stir in

the grated zest.

2. Place the jalapeños, basil, and onion in separate small serving

bowls. Pour the puree into individual soup bowls or into a pitcher

for further chilling.

3. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and pass the condiments.

The basil and jalapeño are the essential ;nishes for the soup, while

the onion is an attractive option.

Variation

CANTALOUPE-JALAPEÑO COOLER

When colleague Judy Graham gave this soup recipe a run-through,

she went into overdrive and came up with this drink, perfect for

brunch.

Prepare the soup as described up to the point where it has been

pureed. Before adding the lime zest, strain the soup. Then blend in

the lime zest and 1 seeded and minced jalapeño.

Divide the blend among 4 to 6 tall glasses ;lled with ice. Add a

splash of vodka to each one, and stir. Serve garnished with wedges

of lime or a sprig of basil.

Queen Anne’s POCKET MELON

Sally is the gardener in this duo. She loves planting stu9 that comes with a story, and this is her next summer project.

Gardening expert Jack Staub told us the story of a kind of melon we didn’t know existed—a petite “hand” melon.

Seventeenth-century gardeners developed tiny melons to nestle in

ladies’ pockets. Like the scented pomanders so popular then, this

especially sweet-smelling fruit counteracted the e9ects of the

resistance to bathing so fashionable at court in those days.