Thursday Soup or Stew Night #4

First of all, I have to publicly apologize to Chris from Mele Cotte. Chris submitted a soup for last week's roundup, and I forgot to include her. Sorry Chris! Here's her soup from last week:















La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup. While I made a fresh tomato soup once, Chris's Tomato Basil Soup is nothing like it. So much tasty fresh basil to give it a flavor that's divine!






This week, Chris made soup again. Tonight's submission for the roundup from Chris is Butternut Squash Soup. I learned something really important in her post that I hadn't known before - you can keep a butternut squash for approximately 3 months in a cool, dry place. Great! Now I can buy them at the commissary and not worry about having to use them immediately like other squashes. And I have to try her soup - I've only had butternut squash once before, and that was as "fries" baked in the oven.








Sara of i like to cook joins the roundup again, and this time she made Black Bean Soup with Coconut Rice. What an interesting blend of flavors! I've never made coconut rice, and that sounds like something I've gotta try. My husband likes his chili over rice, so the concept isn't totally strange - just a little bit different. But it sounds really tasty!





My contribution this week is also a squash-based soup like Chris's, but I used zucchini. Therefore, my soup is green! I had some zucchini that I needed to use, and I've had this recipe in my files for about twenty years, but this is the first time I've made it. It tastes a bit like cream of broccoli. I wonder why that is? Do you think zucchini and broccoli taste similar? This took only 25 minutes to throw together, and I bet you could use half-and-half instead of the evaporated milk to make it even creamier.

Crema de Calabacitas (Cream of Zucchini Soup)

3-4 medium or 2 large zucchini (1 lb.)
2 c water
salt
2 T chopped parsley
2 T butter
2 T minced onion
1 T flour
1 13-oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup chicken broth

Wash zucchini. Cut off stem ends, then cut in large pieces. Place in a large saucepan. Add water and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Cover and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Cool zucchini in cooking liquid. Place zucchini, 1 c liquid, and 2 T parsley in blender. Process until pureed. Heat butter in a medium saucepan. Add onion; cook until tender but not browned. Stir in flour. Cook and stir 1 minutes. Add pureed zucchini mixture, evaporated milk, and chicken broth. Stir to blend. Season with salt if needed. Stir over medium heat until soup comes to a boil. Serve at once or chill and serve cold. Serves 4-6


Thanks to all for participating. This is getting to be really interesting - to come up with soups that use ingredients I have on hand or to plan new and different ones.

I'll be camping this weekend, so I won't be posting for a few nights. When I come back, I'll let you know how and what we enjoyed for our meals, and you can check out my other blog, Wanderlust for pictures and details about the weekend.






food & drink