Friday, June 6, 2008

Simple Soup for CSA vegi.s

Our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) weekly shares just started at Cure Farm and as we've been staying out of the grocery store just as much as possible and eating only vegetables we could obtain from our garden and from the farm stand at Cure farm (Cure has had braising mix and spinach for a while), I am delighted for the variety in our diet. On Wednesday we brought home Walla walla onions, beets, bok choy, etc. I came up with a really quick, enthusiastic soup for the beet greens and stocks, onions and their green tops.

Beet green and onion soup:
Put about a cup of any any pre-cooked grain you have on hand (quinioa, teff, amaranth, millet, bulger, rice, etc.) into a saucepan with about 2 cups of water. Add a about a half cup of a protein source (e.g. pre-cooked beans, chopped up hard-boiled egg, left-over salmon or chicken, a tablespoon of tahini or peanut butter- be creative).

Take one or two onions (depending on your appetite and the size of the onions) with greens, wash, slice off roots and the bulb of the onion(s) and snip up the greens with a pair of scissors. Slice up the bulb with a knife and put the sliced onion in the saucepan. If you have some, add some diced green chili's (I use mild, as low sodium as I can get). If you have mushrooms, slice some up and throw them in too.

Wash the beets greens and stalks. Hold the stalks together and snip them up with the scissors. You can alternatively use a knife to slice them up. I suggest slicing or sniping them into about 1/2 inch pieces. Keep snipping or slicing when you get to the greens. Throw these in the pot as well.

Turn on the heat, bring to a low simmer (or almost to a simmer) while stirring to just wilt the greens. Don't cook long at all as greens are easily over-cooked. Remove from heat. Serve in bowls with oil and vinegar of choice. Fresh ground pepper is a nice touch. If you aren't low-sodium you might want a little salt. In my opinion the fresh vegetables provide all the flavor necessary.

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