CREAMY YELLOW SUMMER SQUASH SOUP

My first box of vegetables arrived this week.  This is my third year of signing up for a weekly box of local vegetables at Green Cay and every week it seems like Christmas.  I have beautiful, fresh vegetables and endless possibilities.  Some of what was in our box included 6 summer squash, baby bok choy, fresh lettuce and a huge bag of basil.  I immediately set to work and blended fresh pesto with the basil, fresh spinach, pine nuts and walnuts (see previous post on pesto).  I divided the batch into 4 containers; froze three and used one container right away with a bowl of whole wheat pasta.  This time I added juice of a whole lemon and it just made the pasta zing.  Try it sometime.

Meanwhile, I really wanted to use some of the summer squash and I didn’t want to cook the first thing that came to mind – a stir fry with quinoa or pasta.  I also had some garbanzo beans and leeks which had me thinking about soup.  The lemon juice at the end really brought out the flavors.  Are you seeing a trend?  Yes, I am on a lemon kick.  We always have lemons or limes in the house.  Living in Florida, you would think we could just go pick them off the tree, but we don’t and can’t - something to do with a fruit fly invasion.  Oh well.  (Sometimes we have mangos falling from the neighbor’s trees and when they do, that really makes me happy.)

Ingredients:

1 onion chopped

2 leeks cleaned and white portion sliced thin

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 yellow squash chopped

1 can coconut milk

1 vegetable bouillon cube

2 cups water

1 ½ cups cooked garbanzo beans or 1 15 oz. can drained and rinsed

½ cup parsley roughly chopped

1 teaspoon toasted ground cumin (see previous post on cumin)

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of ½ a lemon

Garnish with fresh made croutons*

Sauté the onion and leeks with the olive oil in a large stock pot.  Cook until translucent - about 5 minutes.  Add the squash and cook for about 5 minutes more.

Mix in the coconut milk, the water and the vegetable bouillon cube and simmer with the lid slightly ajar for 10-15 minutes.  Add the spices, herbs and beans and cook for about one minute.  Let the soup cool slightly.

Use an immersion blender to cream some of the squash and beans.  I like to leave it chunky so I don’t puree it very much.  Add the lemon and adjust seasonings.  Add the croutons just before serving.

*To make croutons: preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cube some “day old bread” and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Toast in oven until crispy and brown (about 5-10 minutes).

ARUGULA AND HERB PESTO PASTA

This is nearing the end of the growing season for our CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) as it really gets hot and diminishes what can grow in this part of South Florida.  Since we are leaving for Connecticut soon the timing could not be better. 

Two hot weather vegetables we can count on are tomatoes and arugula.    I wanted to cook up something that would travel well on our drive up north and came up with a pesto dish.   I threw in all the fresh herbs I had to make it much more interesting and decided to deconstruct the pesto so I toasted the pine nuts and grated the parmesan and proclaimed them garnish!   

1 lb.  whole wheat pasta cooked according to package directions

4 cups greens – a mixture arugula, parsley and basil

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil

Zest of one lemon (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

Grated parmesan

Toasted pine nut

Chopped tomatoes

As the pasta is cooking, add garlic cloves to a Cuisinart.  Mince.  Add the fresh greens to the Cuisinart and as the machine is running drizzle the olive oil until the mixture forms a lovely green pesto consistency.  Add your lemon zest and salt and pepper. 

Toss the pesto with the cooked pasta and add your parmesan, pine nuts and tomatoes. 

Eat well and travel well.