Duffy’s Summer Zucchini Soup
Our beautiful giant zucchinis in the experimental section of the garden called to mind this refreshing soup that my dad used to make (hint hint!) in the summertime. I discovered the original recipe belonged to Mickey, my mother’s stepmother. One of the few things I remember about Mickey was her commitment to healthy cooking and food– a matter of great importance to this farm as well as the Anamaya community. The ginger, garlic, lemongrass and coconut milk were my tropics-inspired additions– check the coconut milk can label to make sure it doesn’t contain processed sugar or artificial crap. That stuff is awful. It may call for a trip to Whole Foods, sorry.
Sharing this secret family recipe with you, devoted reader, on my very last day volunteering here before heading off to Peru. L’chaim, to life.
Ingredients:
- 4 c. low-sodium veggie broth (I made my own by steaming a small bunch of kale, ½ onion, ½ sweet potato, carrot, salt and pepper in about six cups of water for about an hour. Remove veggies and res
erve to add back into the blender later.) - 1 large onion, slice thin
- 3-4 zucchini, sliced (Farm)
- 1-2 carrots, slice
- Stalk of lemongrass (optional) (Farm)
- 4 cloves garlic, chop (Farm)
- 1 tbsp ginger, chop
- Juice or one small lemon or lime (Farm?)
- Fresh basil (Farm)
- Few sprigs fresh tarragon (farm)
- 1 small jalapeno pepper, diced (farm) or Tabasco sauce, to taste
- 1/2 can coconut milk (no additives!)
- Himalayan salt & fresh ground papaya pepper, to taste
Recipe:
Cover onion, zucchini, carrots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass in broth and cook until soft. (Note, that big Cuban oregano leaf in the photograph, just beneath the basil, I didn’t end up using. But ya could.) Allow to cool. Puree in blender. My zucchinis cooked longer than necessary, releasing a lot of water of which I reserved about a cup that I never adding back in. Does that make sense? Add lemon or lime juice, basil, tarragon, jalapeno. Blend until smooth. Use coconut milk to adjust the amount of liquid to desired thickness. Blend again. I didn’t end up adding any additional salt or pepper aside from what I used in the broth. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with sprig of basil and thin slice lime. One of those soups that’s even better the next day, cold, IMO. ♥ RBR
