A Soup By Any Other Name

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Sometimes I’ll be at home and I’ve already cooked dinner, and I’ve already made lunch for tomorrow (and the next day) yet I still feel like cooking.  Well, this is when it gets dangerous.  Especially this time of year with all of the amazing vegetables available from the farmers market.  Actually, let me take that a half step back.

I’ve finally had my first fight with the market.  I could deal with the limiting hours (only 9-1 on Saturdays from May through November); I could deal with the price spikes (a bunch of parsley for 3 bucks instead of 50 cents at Bestway); but I was not prepared for invaders.

So I was taking lettuce out to be washed for a salad and all of a fucking sudden – there was a SPIDER in my bag-o-greens.  I didn’t scream.  I backed away.  I was pisted.  I was scared.  And then I gently tied the bag together – spider inside – and threw it in the trash.  My love affair hit its first bump.  And I might be off the salad for the rest of the summer.

Regardless, so there I am, in the kitchen, having already cooked what most people don’t even put together in a week, and I’m ready for more.

Recipe for something, post jump

I throw the following in the blender: one tomato, half a sauteed zucchini, half a sauteed yellow squash, half a multi-colored, slightly broiled bell pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, one carrot,  4 stalks of celery, 8 spoonfuls of yogurt, 2 serrano chilies, juice of one lime, cumin, salt, pepper, celery salt, mustard seed.

I decided against: red wine, olive oil, cucumber.  I note what I decided against because whenever I list ingredients in my dishes, 80 always asks me: “What did you NOT put in that?”   Yes, I can show restraint.  And I made all of that while folding my neck over the phone and chatting with my sister, who is excited to graduate college and start working.  Yes, I told her she is crazy.

Okay, so now that you know what’s in my blended concoction, which is now sitting in my fridge – what do I do with it?  Do I drink it like a V8?  Serve it in a bowl with a frozen olive oil cube? Drizzle it over a cucumber salad?  Toss it with avocado and pine nuts?

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6 comments

  • JoeHoya September 24, 2008  

    A few ideas:

    1. Use it as a pasta sauce with penne or another type that will pick up the chunkier bits nicely.

    2. Add some shrimp, scallops, calamari or chopped white fish to make a variation on a cioppino.

    3. Pour in a glass. Add a shot (or two) of good vodka. Call it a Veggie Mary and garnish with a carrot stick, a celery stalk and a strip of red pepper.

  • Mary September 24, 2008  

    Heat it up, serve in a bowl and add a dollop of sour cream, topped with some chopped chives or other herb. Serve with a good whole grain bread.

  • BS September 24, 2008  

    cut a loaf of bread in half, hollow it out and fill it with this stuff. Then you have a tasty soup-soaked bread bowl a la bunny chow

  • gansie September 24, 2008  

    maybe add a fried egg on top?

  • dad gansie September 26, 2008  

    all of them sound delis. will evvo actually freeze??

    or try it as your base for home made pizza…try the prepared puff pastry dough, it made a delis crust

  • dad gansie September 26, 2008  

    all of them sound delis. will evvo actually freeze??

    or try it as your base for home made pizza…try the prepared puff pastry dough, it made a delis crust

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