Chilled Mango-Pomegranate-Ginger Soup

Sometimes I’m super-organized (hey, I’m a Capricorn). And sometimes, well, let’s just say I’m not. This story falls into the latter category.

We went to visit Stephen’s folks this weekend. Had a lovely time, ate lots of sausages and house-made hot dogs from Marlow & Daughters (we always bring BK-made food when we go down; is that weird?), blah blah blah. On Sunday, as we were loading up the car to come home, my mother-in-law offered us a pair of lovely, huge mangos. Of course we said yes, and I threw them into the back seat of the car.

I found them there yesterday. After two full days of baking in the July sun. They were a little overripe.

It seemed like a shame to just throw them away—they really were a pair of beauties—but clearly they were beyond cutting up and eating. I could feel the flesh turning into juice under the pressure of my finger. So I did what I always do: I rummaged around for something to add to the ingredient at hand, something that would transform the mangos from past-her-prime Bette Davis to young-and-lovely Anne Baxter. I found ginger. An adorable, gnarled knob of ginger. And a small bottle of Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice, from the stash the Pommers so kindly sent me to play with. And in the cabinet, I found snack-sized pineapple bits in juice—the very same ones that made my Polynesian Flank Steak so fabulous.

The result: Mango-Pomegranate-Ginger Soup. Perfectly refreshing for mid-summer. About as easy as turning on a blender. And definitely, absolutely, positively young-and-lovely.

Bonus: This morning I poured some into a tall glass, about half-full, and added seltzer. Whoa. I could see spiking it with champagne instead for a really killer cocktail.

Chilled Mango-Pomegranate-Ginger Soup
Serves 2-3

2 extremely ripe, large mangos
2 snack-sized cups of pineapple bits in juice (about 1 cup total)
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 cup pomegranate juice

Put the first three ingredients in the blender, and puree. Add the pomegranate juice through the feed hole. Strain before serving, and discard the pulp.