This post brings you more ideas on how to use the
zucchini from the gardens at this time of year, plus another peek at how our house is coming along. I have been on a long hiatus here lately, due to an overwhelming number of home projects.
A few more of the monstrous zucchinis coming out of my mother’s garden! As I pondered what to eat after my ride on RAGBRAI, Eric suggested soup, which was actually quite brilliant. It was a great way to hydrate and use up a large amount of my zucchini in one recipe.
First, I created a vegetable broth as my base. I am enjoying using my new gas burner range immensely. It is almost freaky fast in heat up time – must get used to that still.
Then, I sliced my zucchini and quartered them. I ended up using 6 cups, which was just about 2 of my medium-large zucchini shown in the photograph.
After simmering broth and veggies about 20 minutes, blend together.
We have been loving our Ninja Professional blender – there is nothing it can’t blend, chop, puree, or smoothie! Plus, it has as much power at a fraction of the cost of some the the fancier blenders. OK, I admit, I was cheering when I read the consumer reports that put some of the cheaper blenders ahead of the uber fancy Vitamix.
We found that this soup is equally good cold or hot – a perfect summer soup. Greta enjoyed eating her soup and making a mess of it. Be warned – the curry in this soup will stain!
Now, onto the floors. When we bought the house, the entryway, downstairs hallway, and kitchen were all covered in laminate flooring. Honestly, it looked nice, but we realized that tile was what we wanted.
We opted for a slate look-alike and decided to put this down in the entryway, inside the coat closet, the downstairs bathroom, in the broom closet, and to the top of the basement stairs. This way, snowy boots could go straight to the closet or basement without depositing dirt and salt onto the wood floors.
One of the most beautiful aspects of the house are its new hickory floors. Eric picked out the hickory due to its beautiful variation in grain, coloring, and character. I am thrilled that the carpeting is now gone and we can now gaze at these boards instead.
Curried Zucchini Soup – serves 6 – 8
1. In a large stock pot, boil 6 cups vegetable broth (or water plus bouillon) with 1 teaspoon salt.
2. In a large skillet, heat 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil. Saute 1 diced yellow onion until soft. Add 3 cloves of diced garlic and cook about 5 more minutes.
3. Add to the boiling broth, 6 cups sliced and quartered zucchini. Add onion and garlic mixture and 2 tablespoons curry to broth. Bring to boil and then reduce and simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes or until zucchinis are softened.
4. Blend entire mixture with immersion blender or upright blender, taking care not to burn oneself! Use a towel over the top of your blender if it is not a tight, locking lid.
5. Return to stockpot and add in 1-½ cups small pasta shells. Cook according to package. Serve hot or cold.
Bluebird Hill Art 