Time for week 7 of One Local Summer and I’m back home after several weeks away. It feels good. This week I tried something new: I don’t normally have soups with my meals – even in the colder months its more of a stew than soup. But I had the urge to be a bit different with the summer squash I got in my CSA share this past week, so I gave it a try.
Chilled yellow summer squash soup with some fresh peaches (that desperately needed to be used) and homemade whole-wheat bread. The soup was very easy – I just cooked some summer squash with a couple garlic scapes and a half of a long green pepper until the squash was barely soft, then transfered the whole batch to the blender and let it go. I like my soup chunky, so didn’t blend too much – but it was definitely soup texture, I promise! Into the fridge for about 30 minutes, and it was wonderful. And yes, that was yellow squash, despite the fact that the finished product came out completely green. I’m surprised at the effect of those garlic scapes and pepper. Just before eating, I added some torn basil on the top. The chunkiness of the soup was surprisingly filling, but at the same time light enough for a humid summer evening.
Sources: Whole-wheat flour for the bread from Wild Hive Farm; garlic scapes and summer squash from George Hall Farm; pepper from Amelia’s Farm and Bakeshop; basil from my own garden; and peaches from D’Agelio’s Farms (the peaches were last week’s finds, hence the need to use them quickly)
Judy said,
July 19, 2009 at 10:12 pm
The soup sounds great. I’ve done some interesting soups that turn out green and they’ve always been tasty.
mangochild said,
July 22, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I’ve never been a fan of cold soups, but this one has me reconsidering that position. It really was delicious, and entirely made up on the spot! What have you done for soups? Now I’m interested in more ideas…
laurie said,
July 22, 2009 at 6:37 pm
The chilled soup looks awesome. I answered your question on my blog,not sure how I am supposed to answer your question on my blog or on yours so I did both. The cornbread was made as usual and baked as usual just on top of the veggies. Still learning blog etiquette.
Kristin said,
July 24, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I am very envious of all the bread you bake! I could easily live on bread, olive oil, and maybe some veggies and cheese. I also wanted to respond to your comment you left on my blog about grilling pizza…it’s so simple! Heat up your grill on the highest settings for about 30 min (gets my grill to about 400 F) Use your favorite dough recipe, and shape it into a small to medium size thin pizza (or use your grill as a judgement for the size you want)…also, a few smaller pizzas mean you can try lots of different toppings for everyone. Sprinkle flour or cornmeal on a pizza peel and place the dough onto the peel. Now you need to work quickly and get your toppings onto your pizza, including the cheese. Slide the pizza onto the grill, off to one side so you can regulate the heat. You want to set the burner(s) under the pizza to low, or shut it off completely. Keep an eye on the crust to keep it from burning, otherwise leave the grill closed to bake the pizza. It takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes. All that’s left to do is to get the pizza off the grill with your peel or spatula. Sometimes we’ll turn the heat up under the pizza at the end to burn it a bit….better to do at the end than early on! Enjoy!
mangochild said,
July 24, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I had no idea grilling pizza was so easy
Having smaller pizzas and playing with the toppings is a good idea, and I think for a newbie to grilling like me, it would make things less likely to get messy… And thanks for the tip on turning up the heat to get a bit of charring on the pizza at the end, I love a crunchy crust with a bit of blackness.