Pizza — laden with roasted golden beets, zucchini and vitamin-K-packed SPINACH.

I picked up my CSA delivery box this past week and guess what I found inside?

Whoa, how did you know?

Spinach, glorious deep-green spinach. And lots of it.

I’m not complaining because it’s the best spinach on the planet. It’s just that you have to get very creative with your recipe development when you’re in the deep-end of spinach season. Beet, zucchini and spinach pizza, anyone? Trust me, this was over-the-top delicious. But, before I launch into the recipe, please humor me (or skip this part) and let me wallow in my geek-ness.

Ready?

I have a theory about hearty greens (like spinach and kale) and celiac disease and gluten-intolerance.

Celiac disease is a genetically predisposed autoimmune disease in which gluten (the main storage protein in wheat, barley and rye) wreaks havoc on the small intestine, inhibiting nutrient absorption. That’s the super-duper, shortened definition. If you want the unabridged version, leave me a comment and I’ll fill you in on anything and everything you might want to know about celiac disease and gluten-intolerance. But for now, my theory about spinach and it’s role in healing.

Spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense (calorie for calorie) foods available. I bet the deep-green, leafy, organic stuff I get from Grant Family Farms is on the far-side of pharmaceutical grade. It’s packed with vitamin K – 1110% of the recommended daily value. It also contains a zillion other health-promoting nutrients, but to keep this post from becoming a thesis paper, I’m going to focus on vitamin K and celiac disease.

Without getting into the poopy (literally) details, unmanaged celiac disease can cause nutrient malabsorption. Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), iron, folic acid and a large part of our calcium are absorbed in the proximal section (the top part) of the small intestine. That’s the area that receives the most damage when you have celiac disease. If you have a trashed small intestine and you’re not breaking down your food adequately or absorbing your nutrients efficiently, you won’t be absorbing your fats (to make a long story short). If you’re not absorbing your fats, you won’t be absorbing your fat soluble vitamins. If you’re not absorbing your fat soluble vitamins, you won’t get the full benefit of vitamin K.

This is a generality. Our bodies are amazing and we compensate in many different ways, but if you become deficient in vitamin K, your blood may not clot properly. Isn’t it interesting that our blood has this amazing ability to flow quickly throughout the body; up and down and all around? Think about it, it remains a flowing liquid. But if you cut yourself, it can become a solid within seconds. Whew, that’s a good thing. If blood didn’t clot, one pinprick could drain the entire body of all its blood. Imagine a water balloon with one tiny little hole in it. Eventually all the water would slowly drain from the balloon.

Does anyone out there bruise or bleed easily? Anyone with celiac disease? Hmmm?

Vitamin K also plays a role in the synthesis of bone proteins. Without adequate vitamin K, the bones produce a funky protein that can’t bind to the minerals that normally form bones. You see, it’s not just the calcium you need for strong bones, it’s also vitamin K (and a bunch of other things, including exercise).

Anyone with osteopenia or osteoporosis? And celiac disease? Hmmm?

One more geeky thing (maybe two) and I’ll get on to the pizza recipe. Vitamin K can also be obtained from a nonfood source. GI tract bacteria can synthesize vitamin K, but you need to have a healthy balance of intestinal bacteria for that to happen. Antibiotics also kill the vitamin K producing bacteria, so there are lots of ways to become deficient, especially if you have celiac disease.

Now, don’t go taking vitamin K supplements unless your doctor prescribes them. Fat-soluble vitamins aren’t excreted as easily as water-soluble vitamins, so the risk of toxicity is much greater. I’m a big fan of getting my nutrients from high-quality food. This kind of focus is called nutrition therapy – this is what I do and this is how I live (most of the time, anyway).

So, let thy food be thy medicine and go eat some spinach!

gluten-free, spinach, roasted beet and zucchini pizza
what you need
1 gluten-free pizza crust (I used an Udi’s pre-made thin crust on this pizza)
1 & 1/2  tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
squeeze of honey (maybe 1-2 teaspoons)
2 small golden beets, scrubbed, trimmed and chopped into 3/4 inch cubes (no need to peel)
1 zucchini, washed and chopped into 3/4 inch cubes
2 cups spinach, washed, stemmed and chopped
grated cheese (I like a mix of  shredded Parmesan, Romano and Asiago)

what you do
1. Because the beets and zucchini take longer to cook than the pizza itself, I like to roast them first. It also adds a nice taste to the pizza. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the prepared beets and zucchini in a medium-sized bowl and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Gentle mix to cover with oil. Spread out the veggies on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast on center rack of the oven for about 15 minutes. Watch closely and flip using a spatula to make sure they’re roasted evenly. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. While the veggies are roasting, melt the butter over low heat, add the garlic and honey and stir until blended.
3. Brush the melted butter-garlic-honey blend over the pizza crust. Add chopped spinach first, then beets and zucchini. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and cook in 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Cut into 4 slices and enjoy! Serves 1 or 2, depending on how hungry you are.

* I’ve also made this pizza with red beets, but I kept the beets separate while preparing them so that everything else didn’t turn pink (not that it matters).

Udi’s is a local company. The pizza crusts are gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free and nut-free. For the most part, I prefer food I make from scratch myself, but on occasion, this is a nice treat and the crusts are thin, crispy and very tasty. Gluten-cootie-eaters don’t even know they’re gluten-free. No apologizing, no explaining needed!

Peace, love and vitamin K!
Melissa

Well, that’s what it looked like. Murky, camo-green and all.

Plus, I’m hooked on alliterations, and those “s” words flowed together so well. Although I must say, swamp scum probably isn’t the most keyword-worthy phrase. Not that I’ve ever cared much about keywords. In my own blog world, anyway. If I write copy for you, I’m TOTALLY into keywords. TOTALLY.

I suppose if I’m going to take this blogging thing seriously, I should start thinking tagline options, SEO, keywords, analytics and metadata. Don’t you think? After all these years?

Nah.

Just the mention of metadata gives me brain freeze. And without the accompaniment of a huge bite of ice cream, that’s just not fun.

Okay, on to the serious business of figuring out what to do with all this spinach. I’m almost sure someone at my CSA pickup location slipped some of their spinach into my box.

Fine. If anyone can manage an abundance of spinach, it’s me. I’ll take on the challenge.

Nancy Drew meets the Green Goddess (ooh, that would have been a great title).

swamp scum smoothie
what you need
SPINACH (if you don’t have any, I’ll share), washed with stems *
1 golden beet unpeeled, scrubbed, trimmed and chopped *
1 small apple unpeeled, scrubbed and chopped *
1 cup vanilla goat yogurt
a handful of frozen cherries
a handful of pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
coconut water

what you do
1. Place all ingredients in your VitaMix and blend well. If you have a regular blender, shred the beets rather than chopping them.

* The skins of beets and apples contain all kinds of beneficial nutrients and fiber, so choose organic and leave the skin intact. Scrub well, but don’t peel. If you don’t go with organic, then you might want to get rid of the skin as it’s probably been sprayed with an assortment of icky chemicals. Spinach stems contain some nourishing goodies as well, so throw some of them into the mix.

Go forth and celebrate spinach (again and again). No complaining. This is what “eating local” is all about. Especially in Colorado.
Peace, love and green stuff!
Melissa

Are you having an evolutionary flashback?

Belonging to a CSA means eating according to the natural, local growing cycles. Back in the olden days, this was the only option. No avocados if you lived in Colorado. No tomatoes in the winter unless you canned them. No spinach in December.

Here in the Rocky Mountains, you can count on the possibility of snow into May (maybe longer), so June and July mean LOTS of greens (seriously, like a ton). Right now my CSA share box is overflowing with spinach. My crisper drawer is jammed. I can’t shove another leaf into it.

That’s the perceived downside to belonging to a CSA. No variety. Spinach, spinach and more spinach. Hey, we have too many options in life as it is, enjoy the simplicity. Sometimes less is more (or something like that).

Just think “primitive diet” with a contemporary twist. Spinach is our main ingredient, we simply need to resort to some creative accessorizing. How about some maple syrup to sweeten things up? Those of you who have been following this blog for any length of time might recognize a pattern here. Pure, organic maple syrup is often my answer to life’s dilemmas.

warm maple spinach salad
what you need
10 cups washed, stemmed and gently torn spinach
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1/4 cup (or more) chopped pecans
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup shredded smoked Gouda

what you do
1. Toast pecans in a small skillet over low heat until fragrant (3 to 5 minutes). Stir often. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool.
2. Toss spinach and cucumber in a large bowl.
3. Heat oil in small skillet over low-medium heat. Add shallot and cook 4 to 5 minutes until softened. Stir often. Don’t let the shallot burn. Add vinegar and maple syrup and increase heat until almost boiling. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Immediately pour the dressing over the spinach and cucumber. Toss well and sprinkle with cheese and toasted pecans.

Makes 4 large servings or 6 small ones.

As for the abundance of CSA spinach, if all else fails, make a bouquet-ish arrangement out of it. See photo above.

Go forth and eat spinach! Over and over.
Melissa
P.S. Cid, I’m counting on you to set me straight on my cheese choice. I’m guessing there’s a more fashionable accessory than smoked Gouda.

Farm-fresh food lovers, start your engines (salad-spinners, blenders, stovetops, VitaMixes, ice-cream makers, juicers, dehydrators). CSA season is upon us!

Okay, so we’re a little behind out here in Colorado. It’s that pesky snow thing. But, we’re a hardy bunch. We don’t let cold weather ruin our fun or our growing season. Last weekend was Grant Family Farm’s spring farm tour and CSA kick-off celebration. It was cold, rainy, dreary and muddy, but in true Woodstock tradition, spirits were high, the beer was flowing and the farm-fresh food abundant.

As I did last year, I’ll be posting recipes according to what I receive in my share box each week. Please join me in eating our way through the season.

spinach pesto
what you need
2 cups fresh spinach, washed, stemmed and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic
2 – 3 tablespoons parsley, washed and stemmed
1 – 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

what you do
Place all ingredient in a food processor and pulse. Salt and pepper to taste. Serving ideas: drizzle over roasted chicken, serve with crackers, use on pizza, substitute as a condiment in wraps or sandwiches, use as a pasta sauce. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Kirsten Akens, Food & Drink writer for the Colorado Springs Independent. Please follow this link to Kirsten’s article about Grant Farms Spring Farm Tour (more photos included). Thank you, Kirsten!

Peace, love and farm-fresh food.
Melissa

This was my lunch today and trust me, it was delicious. Actually, it was more like dinner masquerading as lunch. I have a weekend yoga workshop with Matthew Sanford that starts tonight, so I thought I’d reverse things and eat my big meal this afternoon. I just ate these tacos while watching Nadal make his way into the finals of the French Open.

I think I’m evolving into a vegetarian. While I haven’t made it a definitive, 100% choice yet, I’m moving in that direction. I’ve never been much of a meat eater, so this all-veggie drift is natural for me. I don’t find it difficult to make up vegetarian versions of typical mainstream meals. In fact, it’s fun and entertaining. Plus, my Grant Farms CSA deliveries start soon, so farm-fresh, organic veggies will be abundant. Might as well start experimenting now.

farm-fresh gluten-free roasted veggie tacos
what you need for the tacos
1 medium/large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small squares
1 cup broccoli, chopped into bite sized florets
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed (I like Eden Organics because the cans are BPA-free)
olive oil
veggie broth *
sea salt
red pepper flakes
shredded cheese
taco shells

* I keep some homemade veggie broth or a container of Imagine vegetable broth in the fridge for oil-free sautéing and for adding moisture to mixtures like this.

what you need for the pico de gallo
1 avocado, chopped
1 tomato, chopped with juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced well into the green section
2 – 4 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green lettuce leaf, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
sea salt to taste

what you do
Place all the ingredients for the pico de gallo into a medium bowl. Mix well and let sit while making the tacos.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped sweet potato in a medium sized bowl. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (maybe 1 tablespoon at the most). Mix it up with your hands so the potato pieces are covered. Place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, sprinkle with sea salt and place on middle shelf of the oven. Set timer for 15 minutes. Watch as they can burn quickly.

Place chopped zucchini and broccoli in the bowl you used for the sweet potatoes. Add a touch of olive oil and toss to coat.

After about 15 minutes or so (the potatoes should be half-done), shove the potatoes aside and add the broccoli and zucchini mix to the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and return to oven for 10 to 15 more minutes. Keep an eye on it as the broccoli florets burn easily. Using a spatula, turn the veggies if needed. Remove from oven once they’re finished roasting.

Heat a small amount of veggie broth (maybe 1/4th cup) in a large skillet. Add beans, roasted veggies, red pepper flakes and sea salt. Stir until well heated. You might need to add a touch more broth. You want it moist, but not drippy.

While the mixture is heating, place the taco shells in the oven. It will only take a couple of minutes to heat them up. Watch carefully, they’ll burn quickly.

Fill taco shells with veggie/bean mixture, sprinkle with shredded cheese, top with pico de gallo. Yum! Who says tacos have to be made with pork or beef? You might also like my kale taco recipe. Check here for details.

Peace, love and veggie tacos!
Melissa

I’ve been finding lots of carrots in my Grant Farms CSA delivery box this fall and have been adding shredded carrots to smoothies, chopping them up for soups and stews and I even made a big pot of carrot and ginger soup the other day. Delicious.

Before launching into next week’s sugar-laden, progressive dessert party that Diane at the W.H.O.L.E. Gang is kindly hosting, I thought I’d slip in a carrot recipe. Just to remind myself and my readers that my “roots” are in nutrient-dense, whole foods. I’m a nutrition therapist. Remember that next week, okay? I’ll be on a short visit to planet sugar, not permanently relocating. If I end up staying past next week, someone come and save me (Ali, that might have to be you).

Carrots – think carrots. They’re sweet and full of natural sugar. Yeah, I know – that’s not quite the same as a double chocolate brownie dripping with frosting while decorating the Christmas tree.

Back to carrots.

honey-glazed spiced carrots
what you need
1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
2 tablespoons shallots, finely diced
several organic carrots, scrubbed and chopped (I used about 3 to 4 cups)
1 cup vegetable broth (I use home-made or Imagine organic veggie broth; you could also use chicken broth)
2 – 3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

what you do
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes. Add broth and stir in carrots. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for about 10 to 15 minutes. Carrots should be tender, but not over-cooked or mushy. Add the honey, salt and pepper and continue simmering until the sauce becomes syrupy. The honey can burn quickly, so stir often and watch closely. You may have to reduce the heat. Stir in nutmeg just before serving. Transfer to a platter and garnish with parsley. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Up next – holiday desserts! Stay tuned.
Peace, love and sweet veggies.
Melissa

I hope you haven’t lost trust in me when it comes to ice cream. Maybe I deserve it. Was it the sweet corn ice cream? Or the vegan chocolate chip, beet ice cream? I guess I don’t blame you, but you absolutely must give me one more chance because this pumpkin, maple, Grand Marnier ice cream is a winner. I’m not kidding, I can hardly keep the freezer door shut long enough to let it totally set up. I keep tasting it to make sure I’m not dreaming. Or delusional.

Okay, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty dang close. Let me go taste it one more time and I’ll let you know for sure.

Yep, it’s a 9.5. If it was a little creamier, I’d give it a 10. The pumpkin purée is a touch grainy. Just a touch – like a nano-touch, so keep reading.

I’ve been receiving pumpkins in my Grant Farms CSA box on a weekly basis lately. Sweet, yummy, organic, sugar pumpkins. I’ve made soup, muffins, custard, pancakes and even cookies out of pumpkins. But never ice cream. Until today, and I’m happy to say I’ve found a new favorite dessert. I’m serving it tomorrow. After a day of skiing and a dinner of traditional New Mexico stacked, red chile enchiladas. With an organic poached egg on top. I’m shaking things up a bit this Thanksgiving.

pumpkin, maple, Grand Marnier ice cream
what you need
ice cream maker
1 and 3/4th cup half and half, well chilled
1 cup pumpkin purée, unsweetened and unspiced
3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, preferably grade B (here’s why)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* optional: 1 – 2 teaspoons Grand Marnier
I used 1 teaspoon because I was afraid it would be too strong, but I think I’ll try 2 next time. The Grand Marnier idea came from David Lebovitz’s adaptation of Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox’s pumpkin ice cream recipe.

what you do
Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend on medium-low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. Turn on ice cream maker, pour ingredients into freezer bowl per manufacturer’s directions and let mix for about 30 minutes until thickened. Transfer to a storage container and freeze.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Melissa
P.S. I just tasted it again, it’s not grainy. Trust me.

It’s apple harvest time in Colorado.

I’ve got a big jug of Ela Farms organic, sugar-free apple cider in the fridge and I’ve been busy making apple sauce, dehydrated apples, apple porridge, apple bars and apple muffins. Not that I’m complaining. But, after picking up my CSA box yesterday and finding another zillion honey-crisp apples in the fruit basket, I had no choice but to expand on my healthy options and make a full-on, traditional, sugar-laden, butter-filled apple crumble.

Seriously, I had no choice. None.

There are a handful of desserts that insist on being made with the real thing. This is one of them.

Melissa’s GF apple crumble
what you need for the apple filling
6 to 8 apples, depending on size
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 tablespoons GF flour * (I used Pamela’s GF Baking Mix, but any GF mix or regular flour will work)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt

what you need for the crumble topping
3/4 cup GF flour * (I used Pamela’s GF Baking Mix, but any GF mix or regular flour will work)
1/3 cup organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter *
1 cup chopped pecans (or less – I love pecans in this, so I use a lot)

1. Wash, core and slice apples in thin sections and place in a large bowl. Depending on your preference and time, you can either peel them or not. I’ve done it both ways, but it does change the texture a bit if they are unpeeled (the photo below shows them peeled, but unpeeled is more-often my choice).

2. Using a whisk and a medium sized bowl, mix the remaining ingredients on the apple filling list.

3. Pour mixed dry ingredients over the apples and gently stir to cover all the pieces with filling ingredients. Place in greased pie plate and arrange to fit. If you feel as though there’s not enough coverage, mix up a small amount of extra filling mix and add that. I have a fairly large-sized pie plate so depending on my apple sizes, sometimes I end up making a touch extra. I’ve also increased all the measurements and made a big apple crumble during special occasions. Adjust as you see fit.

4. Whisk together flour, sugar and cinnamon from the crumble ingredient list. Add butter as indicated below (*) and mix well. Add the pecans, stir and cover pie with crumble mixture. Press down to cover all the area. The photo below is an example of the pre-baked crumble, but in a much larger baking dish. This version was half-again bigger than the recipe calls for (I wanted to show you some options).

5. Place in pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes and cover loosely with foil if it starts to burn (it may, so watch it closely). Quick clean-up tip: you might also want to put a piece of foil on the floor of your oven in case the filling boils over and makes a mess of your oven.

6. Remove from oven, serve with vanilla ice cream and swoon over your creation. No one (NO ONE) will care that this is gluten-free. Don’t even tell them. On second thought, tell them and then don’t give them the recipe. Just explain that this is what is served in our wheat-free parallel universe that they aren’t part of. Be totally snooty about it. So there, you wheat-eaters!

Of course, I’m kidding.

Sort of.

* Butter, here’s the deal – if I’m going to use butter, I’m going to use the best available source. My choice is Organic Valley Pastured Butter for a variety of reasons. The real thing is much healthier for you than all those nasty “I thought it was real, but it’s really a bunch of icky fake crap” butters. Plus, how the animals are treated makes a big difference in my food choices. This is a good, healthy option for me.

* Butter-using tip: I buy the big chunk of butter and store it in the freezer. Then when I need butter for pie crusts and crumbles, I take it out of the freezer and shred it with a cheese grater. That is much easier than doing that double-knife-ninja-crossover-thing to mix up butter. Then I put the butter back in the freezer for next time. Very easy and there’s less chance of a serious, pastry-mixing injury. Are you listening, GDave?

Go forth and enjoy the apple harvest!
Melissa

I’d like to say it’s a lazy, hot summer day in Golden, Colorado, perfect for ripe, juicy seasonal watermelon. But no, it’s cold, windy and the low last night was 28 degrees. Not exactly picnic weather. More like hot chocolate, flannel jammies and furry slippers weather. 

But, when you eat local and seasonal food, you go with the plant flow and it’s watermelon time, so put on a down parka and dig in!

I have been eating watermelon daily for the past three weeks. I’m really not complaining as you all know how much I love my weekly CSA share from Grant Family Farms. Yes, I’ll admit it – I love my farmers up the road in Wellington. Head over heels, stalkingly in love. But in a good veggie-fruit kind of way. Yes, Andy Grant is my version of Sting, a total rock star. Or rather a dirt star. 

This smoothie was created using fruits and veggies from my recent share box. Mix and match according to what you have on hand, but this made for a perfect breakfast shake. While sitting by the fire, wrapped in a wool blankie, wearing mittens. Hey, nobody promised that eating seasonal in Colorado would always make sense. 

watermelon chia seed smoothie (this is a winner)
2 cups watermelon chunks, seeds removed
2 cups mixed lettuce greens (the good stuff, not iceberg lettuce)
1 small apple, unpeeled and chopped
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup Redwood Hill Farms vanilla goat yogurt
1/2 to 1 scoop Chia Seeds (this is what I use) 
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix well. If your watermelon is juicy enough, you’ll have a perfect smoothie without adding any liquid. This was absolutely delicious and something even picky kids will love (or you green-food-avoiding grownups – you know who you are). The green, leafy stuff is practically unnoticeable. 

Chia (chee-ah) is an edible seed from a desert plant that is a member of the mint family. Like quinoa was to the Inca Indians, chia was warrior food for the Aztecs and Mayans.

Total Zena, Warrior Princess food. 

Chia is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, niacin, zinc and blah, blah, blah. These little nutty-tasting seeds truly are power-packed. The high fiber content makes them perfect for slowing down the process by which carbs are converted to sugar, so energy levels are more balanced. Chia is great mixed into trail bars, granola, muffins and hot cereal. 

Go forth and thrive!
Zena, Warrior Princess

It was 32 degrees here last night, cold all day and light snow is expected tonight. It’s been snowing heavily in the mountains (yeah!). Monday’s CSA delivery had no chance of becoming anything other than farm-fresh soup. Other than garlic, broth, olive oil and one small sweet potato, I used what was in my delivery box and made a big batch of soup. It could have easily been a salad had I not cooked the ingredients.

I forgot to put the spinach in the before photo (my share box was absolutely overflowing again). Imagine a sweet potato where that gorgeous egg plant is and imagine it surrounded by rich, vibrant spinach leaves. As I was busy chopping away, I decided a sweet potato played into this soup better than the eggplant, so I switched those out at the last minute. I’ll figure out something with the egg plant later this week. Eggplant parmesan with a homemade tomato sauce?

Here’s the before picture.

Here’s the after picture.

Salad in the form of warm, soothing soup
What you need (anything you want, but I used the following)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 bay leaves
2 – 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks (about 3/4 inch cubes)
6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 cup water
3 carrots, washed and cut into chunks (don’t you love those chubby carrots)
3 celery stalks, washed and chopped into 1/4 – 1/2 inch pieces, leaves and all
2 cups washed, trimmed and sliced green beans (1 – 2 inch pieces)
2 cups washed and chopped zucchini (1 inch pieces)
corn kernels from 1 ear of corn (uncooked, removed from the cob)
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 – 2 cups spinach, washed and chopped into large pieces
herbs such as thyme, rosemary and basil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

what you do
• Heat the olive oil over low heat in a large stock pot. Add onion and bay leaves and stir frequently for 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add sweet potato, stir occasionally and cook 5 more minutes. Pour 1 cup of the broth over the vegetables, increase heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add the next 5 cups of broth and the 1 cup of water and bring to a light boil or simmer. Add the carrots, celery and green beans and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the zucchini and corn and simmer another 5 minutes.

• Add the diced tomatoes and the herbs and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the spinach, cook another 2 to 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves and serve. Top with a touch of shredded cheese if you’d like (Parmesan or Monterey Jack is good).

These cooking times are flexible, but I’ve found this “layering” method works well with so many different types of vegetables. Put the veggies that take the most time to cook in the pot first, ending with things like herbs, tomatoes and greens that take much less time. I like my soups with crunchy vegetables and vibrant colors and if you over-cook the soup, you lose both characteristics.

Go forth and make salad into soup on cold days!
Melissa