Refreshing meals to beat the summer heat

Place empty melon halves in the refrigerator to chill while preparing the soup.

In a blender, combine the honeydew and cantaloupe pieces, 1 teaspoon salt, sugar, lemon juice, and port wine, and process until very smooth. Pour into a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

Ladle the soup into the chilled melon halves. Garnish each serving with a tablespoon of mascarpone. Sprinkle the prosciutto bits on the mascarpone, top with a grind of pepper and a mint leaf. Serve immediately.

In a large salad bowl, combine apricots, strawberries, shaved fennel and mixed greens

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together Dijon and honey, add strawberry vinegar slowly, and whisk in extra virgin olive oil until dressing becomes emulsified.

Toss salad lightly with the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and divide the salad evenly among six plates. Top with toasted walnuts and gorgonzola cheese, and serve immediately.

For herb pesto:
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree; set aside to dress pasta.

For salad:
Remove from grill the zucchini, yellow squash, corn, and Portobello mushroom. Place on a cutting board, cut into bite size pieces, and add to a large salad bowl with the diced carrots and red onion.

Add the fusilli pasta and cherry tomatoes to the bowl, mix evenly and dress with the herb pesto. Season with salt and pepper if needed, and serve.

In a large bowl, combine all vegetables, capers, olives and cooked rice. Break tuna into large chunks over bowl, and season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice together. Dress the salad, toss, and divide evenly between 6 plates.

Put the peaches in a bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss lightly to coat evenly. Divide the peaches evenly among individual glass bowls. Cover and refrigerate to chill the fruit and frost the bowls, about 1 hour.

In a saucepan, bring vinegar and sugar to a boil, cool down and refrigerate.

Remove peaches from refrigerator, add a scoop of vanilla gelato, coat with balsamic syrup, and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Combine 4 cups berries, wine, sugar, and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, chill very well, about 3 hours, remove cinnamon stick.

Divide soup between 6 chilled bowls, garnish with additional berries and sorbet. Serve immediately.