Editor’s Note: Born in Delhi, raised in London, Aneeta Clark has spent most of her adult life in Paris, where she worked as a chef and an art restorer. Since her move to New York in 2005, Aneeta has worked as chef to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and for private clients. Offering a broad repertoire of international and regional specialties, Aneeta also caters to clients’ special dietary needs.

At the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), Seasonal Pesto Soup is a favorite on our lunch menu. Tasty, nutritious, economical and quick to prepare, you could call it “the little black dress” of soups. You can dress it up or down as you like with ease.

As IIN staff have varied dietary preferences and constraints, my basic Seasonal Pesto Soup is vegan. Condiments like grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, shredded prosciutto crudo or other non-vegan treats can be served on the side for dairy and meat fans. Based on seasonal ingredients, Seasonal Pesto Soup offers boundless opportunity for improvisation.

In the spring, when bodies yearn for rejuvenation and appetites favor the fresh and light, Seasonal Pesto Soup can be every bit as vibrant and pristine as the new vegetables on display at your local farmers’ market. For example, tiny new potatoes and carrots, green onions, young turnips and early garden peas make a wholesome, fragrant and colorful soup.

Summer’s abundance takes this soup to another level, celebrating the brightness and savor of ingredients such as fresh lima, fava and pinto beans, young green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, red and green peppers …

As summer wanes, autumn and winter bring us the warming savors of root and squash vegetables, cabbages, corn, legumes and dried herbs preserved during summer’s glut. Add some pasta or whole grains, and the soup becomes more substantial.

The pesto sauce itself is a simple combination of basil, garlic, tomatoes, pine nuts and olive oil blended together in a food processor. It takes just minutes to prepare and – in addition to the zing it gives your soup – it makes an easy marinade for poultry, fish or goat cheese; toss it with pasta or use it as a topping for pizza.

I first learned to make le pistou (French for pesto) in St. Paul de Vence in August 1978. It was taught to me as a lengthy methodical process requiring mortar and pestle of marble. On a veranda sheltered from the blazing summer sun, it was an apt occupation for a lazy afternoon. There was no rush, just the steady rhythm of the pestle pounding basil and garlic in time with the cicadas’ chirping song, the tempting aroma of the pistou-in-progress spicing up the evergreen-scented air. A few pine nuts from the surrounding trees, a generous trickle of local olive oil, a pinch of fleur de sel, a few twists of the pepper grinder, a ripe tomato or two and, finally, a bit of grated cheese stirred into the bright green concoction. Voilà, le pistou was ready for the evening’s soup!