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Newsletter and recipe archive
One year I had a garden with zucchini plants, and I checked them every day, determined to pick my zucchini while they were young and tiny. However, as anyone who has ever grown zucchini knows, there comes the day when you turn your back for 10 minutes, and when you turn around again you find, under a nearby leaf, a zucchini that is a foot and a half long. I first made this soup from one of those, scraping off the tough part of the skin. Since then it has answered for me the big question of July and August: what to do with all that zucchini?
3 lbs. zucchini Wash and trim the zucchini and slice them. Peel and coarsely chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick sauté pan, and sauté the chopped onion in it, stirring often, until it begins to color. At the same time, combine the water, broth, and a half teaspoon of salt in a soup pot, add the rice, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer while the onions are browning. Add the sautéed onions and zucchini to the soup pot. Stir in the basil, grind in a little pepper, and continue simmering until everything is tender, perhaps another 20-25 minutes. Purée the soup in batches in a blender, then return it to the soup pot and stir in the lemon juice. Taste, and correct the seasoning with more salt, pepper or lemon juice, as needed. You can pass cream (or milk) seperately for those who want a slightly richer soup. I like this soup with some crumbled feta cheese on top, and my older son loves it with Parmesan cheese. This makes about 10-12 servings of a very nice soup, low in fat and high in summer flavor, and a lot easier to take than endless loaves of zucchini bread.
3 lbs. beets Trim the green off the beets, leaving about 1 inch of the stems, and scrub the beets. Combine the damp beets and the unpeeled cloves of garlic in one or more foil packets, folded securely to keep in the moisture. Roast the beets in a 400° oven for an hour, or longer if they are very large - until they are tender. Dissolve the sugar in a tablespoon of water and heat it in a heavy-bottomed skillet until it begins to turn golden. Add the chopped walnuts, stir, and then pour them out onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake the sugared walnuts at 275° for about 20 minutes, then let them cool. Lift them off the sheet, and break them up if they are sticking together in clumps. Unwrap the beets, allow them to cool slightly, peel them, then cut them into 1 1/2" pieces. Squeeze the soft garlic out of its husks and mash it with a fork. Combine the garlic with the pumpkinseed oil, vinegar, lemon juice, some salt and pepper, and mix well. Toss the beets gently with this dressing, taste, and correct as needed. Mix in the basil. Just before serving, add the sugared walnuts to the beets, and toss again. Serves 6-8.
2 cups spring water Put the water and sugar in a non-reactive pot and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Wash down any sugar crystals from the sides with a brush, or by swirling the liquid. Add the grated lemon zest, and simmer the syrup for five minutes, then remove it from the heat and allow it to cool completely. Combine the syrup with the sliced peaches and puree it all in a blender until perfectly smooth. Add three tablespoons lemon juice, blend well, and taste. Add more lemon juice, a drop at a time, until the sweetness of the peaches and syrup is balanced, and the flavor is lively. Chill the mixture, then freeze it in an ice cream freezer, according to manufacturer's instructions.
This makes about a quart of sorbet.
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