Cold Cucumber & Buttermilk Soup with Chili Garlic Oil

Plus, finding balance in fire season.

This luscious chilled soup comes together in just 10 minutes and is the perfect way to cool down this season (both physically and emotionally).

Happy Friday, friends!

Last Friday I asked my nine-year-old what I should write about this week, and she said, “how to be as cool as a cucumber.” We both broke out laughing, but as I thought about it, it was actually perfect (Juni has always been one of my greatest teachers). In Traditional Chinese Medicine summer is fire season, which is the most yang time of year. It represents passion, vitality, creativity, and transformation. However, when the fire element is out of balance and too strong, it can lead to anger, fear, or extreme euphoria or sadness. 

One way to release fire (and find balance) is though creative expression—singing, dancing, playing, drawing, etc.—not as a means towards a goal or for any kind of recognition, but rather simply for pleasure. In other words, as temperatures rise, we can release internal heat through activities that bring us joy.

My kids have been home for the past two weeks with no structured activities, and I’ve watched how they so naturally embody this concept. They’ve pulled out art supplies they haven’t touched in months, they’ve developed games, run around the house like maniacs, jumped on the trampoline, swam in the pool, and made giant messes baking in the kitchen. They’re not doing any of these things to prove themselves or for any gain, but simply for the joy of it. 

I’ve also been home for the past two weeks, juggling work and the kids, and I’ve had to remind myself, daily (okay, more like hourly), to lighten up. To loosen up. To play more. To bring play into my work and daily tasks. This hasn’t always been easy, not only because having two kids at home (constantly) making messes is stressful (even if I want to pretend I’m cool with it), but also in light of the troubling political theater playing out around us in the US. It feels like there is so much at stake right now (democracy, human rights, women’s rights, general decency, peace, etc.), and it’s easy to get sucked into the collective web of fear and anxiety. However, when we become ruled by that web, we lose touch with our own power. It’s impossible to create change (or to create anything, really) when we’re mired under the weight of fear.

Later on the same day that Juni gave me the inspiration for this newsletter she found this bookmark when she was cleaning out her drawer. Coincidence? I think not!

It takes courage to step away from the collective—to stand back with equanimity in order to gain clarity—and reclaim our creative power. It requires us to orient ourselves away from the noise around us (which is amplified by the media and social media) and instead towards our own inner light, allowing the wholeness of who we are to guide our lives instead of the manipulations or noise of others. In doing so, we become the scriptwriters of our lives (and of the world we wish to see), instead of unconsciously being led by the voices of others.

While this isn’t always easy, we can use practices, tools, and rituals to help. As temperatures rise this fire season, perhaps we can use play and creative expression, not as an avoidance strategy or form of spiritual bypass (or as a means to an end), but rather as a tool to help guide us back home to the light within ourselves. When we’re connected to our inner wisdom and integrity, we’re able to move/act/speak with intention, creating the change we want to see in our lives, and ultimately in this world.

The Power of Rituals (in the kitchen and out)

In the kitchen

According to Chinese medicine, another way that we can balance the heat—both physically and emotionally—during fire season, is to eat plenty of cooling, hydrating foods. While this cold cucumber soup won’t solve any of the world’s problems, it might help bring you balance as temperatures rise. It’s an adaptable sort of recipe, meaning you can flex your creative muscles if you wish, or you can make it as-is. However, I do encourage you to set an intention to enjoy it with pleasure. Bask in it. Chill out with it. Eat it with the people you love, envisioning the world you want to see.

Grilled Wedge Steak Salad + Intentional Eating Part 5 (The Practice)

Recipe details

The soup is flavored with jalapeño, dill, and a subtle tease of garlic, and it gets creaminess from buttermilk. You can serve it on its own, but a drizzle of chili garlic oil over top lends richness and even more depth (the oil is also fabulous over sliced tomatoes). It comes together quickly and can be eaten right away (it will still be cold, as long as you use cold cucumbers) or it can be refrigerated and sipped on later in the day (or the next day). It’s the kind of thing you can throw together for lunch, or whip up as a first course to a summer feast. 

The soup comes together in minutes in a blender and has a thick, creamy texture.

This week’s recipe is for paid subscribers, whose support of just a few dollars a month (less than $1 per recipe) makes all this work possible. If you’d like access to all of the content, including the full recipe archive, bonus posts, and other fun perks, click the button below to hop over. Thank you for your support! ❤️