So what if the high temperatures around here are still hovering at the upper end of the 90s? I know it just has to be feeling like fall somewhere, and I’m in the mood for soup. And that—among other things—is what I made this week.

I was motivated (by a recipe for enchiladas that I wanted to try) to make a healthier, dairy- and gluten-free version of cream of chicken soup. I played around with substitutions for the usual ingredients and came up with a concoction that was delicious enough to eat straight from the bowl—never mind getting it into the baking dish with the enchiladas! I’m calling it Cream of Chicken, Coconut and Mushroom Soup, and you can see my recipe by clicking here. (Don’t let the ‘Coconut’ part of the title throw you. I replaced the heavy cream called for in the original recipe with a can of coconut milk, but not much, if any, actual coconut flavor comes through.)

Happy harvesters: Kerrick and Kellen load up on lemon cucumbers.

After a visit to my in-laws’ home in northern Arizona, we brought back boxes and bags full of good stuff from their garden—bell peppers, carrots, garlic, green beans, green onions, lemon cucumbers, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini. All of which (except the green onions, tomatoes and lemon cucumbers) factored into the versatile Roasted Vegetable Soup—really, it’s more of a hearty, thick puree—that’s one of my absolute favorite fall and winter dishes. Click here for the recipe.

Inspired by the fabulous food blog Edible Aria, I also tried my hand at separating whey from yogurt—transforming the remaining yogurt cheese into an herb spread similar to one featured on that site (click here for the link), and using the whey to create lacto-fermented salsa (click here to go there). The herb spread was delicious in wraps with slices of my in-laws’ lemon cucumbers, and the salsa made good use of their tomatoes and green onions.

I’m glad soup season has arrived at our house, even if the right kind of weather hasn’t accompanied it. (And even if it makes us feel a little schizophrenic to cool our soup-warmed palates with an equally soothing—but decidedly chillier—comfort food: Wardeh Harmon’s recipe for Dark Chocolate Ice Cream—Non-Dairy, Naturally Sweetened (click here to indulge your own indecisiveness).

This post is part of the Tuesday Twister blog carnival hosted by www.gnowfglins.com. To link to today’s Tuesday Twister on that site, click here.