Relax! 10 tasty summer soups, from glazed cucumber to coconut broth

August is a bad lunch month. Now summer has dragged on for so long that the repetition has started to bite. If you're like me, you'll have spent the last few months eating so much salad you'll be sick of it. But what else is there? Sandwiches are boring and anything too substantial slows you down for the afternoon. If it was October, the answer would be crap, but October is still months away.

But wait! What if I told you that eating soup in the summer is not a real act of madness, but a refreshing and light lunch option? Below are 10 fantastic summer soup recipes, each of which goes above and beyond the humble gazpacho. Some are hot, some are cold, but all are delicious.

If the thought of cold soup makes you nervous, Spicy Watercress and Yogurt Soup Recipe River Cottage is a perfect place to start. A delicate broth, cooked and chilled and blended with watercress, garam masala and plain yogurt, it's not only refreshing but it tastes like it makes you healthier.

A great cold soup for guests is Andy Waters' Chilled Cucumber Soup with Feta Crumble, which is sure to impress. It's just cucumbers, cilantro, and mint reduced to liquid and topped with vinegar and Tabasco, but it's delicious and looks like a picture, thanks to the garnish of edible flowers strewn over the top. p>

A step forward is EatingWell's recipe for chilled melon soup. This too has cucumber in it, but the star here is the melon, drizzled with lime juice, orange juice, ginger and spring onions. You can use any variety of melon, but I prefer watermelon because there's something invigorating and reassuring about a bowl of chilled hot pink soup. -spacefinder-role="inline" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">