Garden Freestyle

Today's bounty

Wandering through the garden each morning with an eye toward what will be for dinner is one of the great pleasures in life.  Gardens often offer up bountiful surprises in some years and disappointment in others.  Zucchini seems to be one of those bountiful crops and so I ponder new ways to use this beautiful vegetable.

I love soup and it's something we sometimes don't think about as a summer meal, but this one will surprise you with it's light, savory, fresh from the garden flavor.

Garden Freestyle - Soup
 This recipe makes a good sized pot of soup and the variations are endless.

Start with:

Saute the onions in olive oil until translucent

3 quarts of chicken stock (you can use Better Than Bouillon Chicken or Veggie for the stock if you wish) 
2 cups onion chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic minced
8-10 slices of bacon cooked, drained, chopped
2 cups half and half or heavy cream


From the garden - co-op - farmer's market:
4 - 5 cups chopped zucchini (1" pieces) or cauliflower or cabbage or a combination
4 cups chopped kale or chard or spinach or a combination
1/2 - 1 cup of chopped fresh herbs - usually basil and thyme, sometimes a little oregano or sage. If you don't have fresh herbs, use about a teaspoon each of dried basil and thyme.

I wash, stack, and roll the kale and basil leaves and slice them.

If you have a few potatoes, a little corn or peas, let your intuition and garden dictate what you will make today.  I've tried a number of different combinations, but my favorite is still just the zucchini and kale which are always abundant.  The amounts are just guidelines.  If you chop up 5 zucchini and get 6 cups, use it, it's no problem with this Freestyle soup.


Step 1 - cook the bacon and set it aside to cool, drain, and chop

In the pot ready to simmer.

Step 2 - saute the onions in the olive oil until they become mostly translucent
Step 3 - add the garlic, chopped veggies, and the stock
Step 4 - add the bacon (additional meat is optional - in this photo you see a little chicken that I picked from the bones when I made my stock from a chicken carcass. 
Step 5 - add the herbs and simmer until the veggies are tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on the veggies you

are using.
Step 6 - stir in the half and half or heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve this Garden Freestyle soup for lunch or dinner with a crusty bread if desired. 

If you have left overs, they get even better the next day as the smoky flavor increases.  This is an amazingly delicious light summer soup, made with the freshest ingredients your garden or farmer's market can offer!

Enjoy!

 

The Glory of the Harvest

 It’s the time of year when we count every night that passes without a frost as a bonus.  Here on the side of the mountain northwest of Missoula, we live in a special little micro-climate that affords us many weeks longer growing season than our neighbors in the valley.  I’m grateful for every growing day I get.

I have a bumper crop of tomatoes that are ripening on the vine.  Soon I’ll be canning marinara, harvest soup, and eating them for breakfast - lunch - and dinner, knowing it will be a long dry spell for fresh tomatoes.  The onions and garlic are already harvested and drying, the potatoes and carrots will be next.

Beautiful Millionaire and Prosperosa Eggplant

Today I harvested a few eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and some peppers to make my ratatouille.  Ratatouille is just another word for a vegetable stew.  Mine is simple and only takes a few minutes to prepare a big pot to enjoy for at least a couple of meals.  This stuff is so delicious that I also can it in quarts for use all winter.
   
Ratatouille
2-4 Tablespoons olive oil
1-2 Medium sweet onion
1-2 Medium eggplant
1-2 Medium red or green bell peppers

Large diced veggies

3-4 Medium green or yellow zucchini
4-6 Cloves of garlic
A handful of fresh basil and oregano
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 Tablespoons sugar
3 14oz cans of diced tomatoes (canned tomatoes are ok to use as they come in the can without draining) or 4-5 cups of fresh garden tomatoes that have been peeled, seeds removed, and excess water drained off.  If using fresh tomatoes, just do them first and let them drain in a 
colander while preparing the rest.

Begin to saute the veggies

Wash and dry the vegetables.  When it comes to the vegetables, there is no exact measurement, this is just a stew.  I say 1-2 Medium, but in general each vegetable ingredient equals about 3 - 5 cups more or less, when chopped. 

 Put the olive oil in a large pot and start with the onions.  Chop the onions and begin to saute them over medium heat.  As soon as they start to soften, turn the burner off and begin to add all of the rest of the vegetables that are chopped into large 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces.

 

Mince the fresh herbs and the garlic and add that to the pot as well.  Turn the heat back on to medium and stir and begin to cook the vegetables together.  Add the tomatoes and salt and bring to simmer.  Simmer for 60-90 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through.

 

Add the chopped and drained tomatoes

Yummmmm!

As the ratatouille is ready, taste it for the appropriate amount of salt and sweetness and adjust to your taste with more salt or sugar.


I serve this over rice or pasta with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese as a hearty main dinner dish.   Enjoy!