Grilled Summer Corn Soup

I'm a girl who loves to grill. I've been known to grill in the pouring rain, and I've been known to grill when it's 108-degrees outside.

So, perhaps I'm a crazy girl who loves to grill.

My philosophy is, "If you can cook it, why not try to grill it?" That philosophy hasn't always worked out for me. The Grilled Egg Incident of 2010 comes to mind......what a disaster.

There are several reasons why I love to fire up the grill. For starters, it's a great way to make healthy meals a little more interesting, with a lot more flavor than if they were prepared via other cooking methods. I mean, who doesn't love a set of expertly placed grill marks on a piece of seasoned fresh fish topped with a generous squeeze of lemon?

Cooking over a grill, smoker or campfire is a lot more fun--and definitely more interactive if you have onlookers--than standing over a stove. Especially if something catches on fire. That's when the fun really starts and unforgettable moments are created (tip: keep an extinguisher nearby.)

And, perhaps the best reason of all: The clean-up after grilling is a snap!:

1. Wad up foil

2. Toss foil in garbage

This recipe was inspired by another girl who loves to grill, my good friend Christie. Christie loves to grill so much that she just launched a grill-tastic (sorry, had to be done) new web site called Girls Can Grill, which provides tons of easy grilling tips and recipes. If you're a regular griller or just a beginner, then I encourage you to swing by her site and take a look.

Oh, and she also grills in 108-degrees. That, my friends, is commitment.

One of my very favorite things to grill is sweet corn, both in the husk and with the husk peeled back. Grilling corn gives it a slightly smoky flavor, and I love the look that the little charred bits add to a fresh summery salad or salsa. I used to make a roasted corn soup every summer, which tastes just as good cold as it does warm, but this year I decided to change things up a bit and grill the corn before adding it to the pot.