By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate

Sometimes, flipping through an older well-loved cookbook is a way to save time and money – and discover previously hidden gems.

I’ve found this kind of “recycling” to work well many times, and this summer the one that made the sweetest impression is Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons by vegan/vegetarian cookbook author extraordinaire Nava Atlas, who has penned close to a dozen acclaimed plant-based titles.

I’d enjoyed the 2009 book the first time around, specifically for its especially hearty fare and, even though it did cover all seasons scrumptiously, I relied on it then more for its traditional autumn and winter soups and stews.

Coming across it recently on a hot summer day, when my own temperature felt like it was rising, sent my imagination soaring. As I flipped to the Summer chapter in the book, I couldn’t help wanting to try almost all of Atlas’ cold soups that I had skipped over the first time.

The book has the full-fledged recipes for when you have time. To quickly soothe my thirst I whipped up some inspirations from her flavor combinations for shortcuts that were delightful. For mine that follow, just use ingredients to taste, puree and then chill before serving. Cold summer soups are also a clever way to introduce children, who might otherwise be picky, to produce.

Fun fare like this also proves food and beverage preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun – and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!

Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you – or your kidlet helpers – choose to use can’t help but draw “wows” from family members and guests.

• Pea is for Perfect: Cooked cooled potatoes, cooked cooled peas, cucumber, fresh dill, lime juice, milk type of your choice (e.g., dairy, soy, almond, coconut, etc.), garlic powder, onion powder, salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Foreign Feast: Tomatoes, mango, cucumber, red bell pepper, scallions (green part only), lime juice, curry powder, salt, light coconut milk and store-bought Thai-style peanut satay sauce or creamy peanut butter thinned slightly with light soy sauce or agave nectar.
• Avocadoes Equal Excellence: Avocadoes, regular or vegan sour cream, milk type of your choice (e.g., dairy, soy, almond, coconut, etc.), red bell pepper, scallions (green part only), fresh dill, ground cumin, curry powder, salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Minty freshness: Strawberries, light coconut milk, sweetener (like natural stevia or agave nectar), cinnamon and mint leaves.
• Mad for Melons: Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, orange juice (preferably fresh), blueberries, vanilla frozen yogurt.

QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK:  Consider tempting your family into trying vegetarian burgers, such as those made with black beans, by including store-bought steak sauce in the mix. That may give a sense of the flavor and scent of the meat-based burgers many people are used to eating. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which includes many vegan recipes at its website (PCRM.org), did just that by including 2 tablespoons of steak sauce per every 4 of its black bean/bread crumb/oat burgers.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet (Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.