This Super Summery Dinner Party Is Meant for Luxuriating

I should mention at the outset a few things about this menu. First, it's light, fresh, cool, elegant — meant for beating the heat — with the flavor-enhancing help of some familiar Japanese ingredients.
It's also a bit of a splurge: You'll need to shell out for seafood and invest a certain amount of effort into the recipes. But the good news is that absolutely every dish can be prepared a day ahead, leaving very little last-minute fussing.
Recipes: Chilled Cucumber-Spinach Soup |Miso Crab Cakes
But it's an ideal menu for an al fresco dinner on a sultry evening, and I found myself serving it to friends on such a recent night. We started with this chilled cucumber-spinach soup — easy to put together and most welcome on a sweltering day. It's very green, whizzed up in a blender with briefly cooked leeks and spinach, ginger and a hint of smoked paprika. Cubes of silken tofu dressed with sesame oil and soy sauce add a lovely contrast to the base.
For brightness, it is worth finding shiso leaves at an Asian grocery. Just a few strips of this sweet, fragrant herb contribute a flavor reminiscent of anise hyssop, hoja santa or flowering cilantro. (Gardeners, take note: My farming friends tell me it grows like a weed, returning yearly.) As a substitute, try Thai basil and a little squeeze of lime.
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