Chilled Cucumber Soup & homemade refrigerator pickles

Here is what we received this week from Plato's Harvest Organic Farm

Is this not a beautiful rainbow of goodies??? Does it get any better? I think not!

Here is an easy-peasy way to whip up a chilled soup for those lazy hazy dog days of summer..

my super-loyal pup, Fenway on her birthday

6 good-sized cucumbers ( or 8 smaller ones) ; peeled & seeded & roughly chopped
1/2 of a sweet onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped ( it gives just a hint of heat, if you don't like that then only use half)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed
1 cups of plain Greek yogurt (you should be buying this stuff all the time)
3 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon each, cilantro, dill , mint & chives
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
zest of 1 lemon

salt & pepper
chicken stock

Add all ingredients to a blender &  ( yup.. toss them all in there together!) process until smooth. Add enough chicken stock to be a medium-thickness consistency. ( I used about 3/4 cup) Season with salt & pepper.

Chill for at least 2 hours so that flavors can meld together. Serve garnished with chopped chives & a sprinkle of lemon zest.

Ahh!! refreshingly delicious! ( and quite healthy, too!)



Now... with an abundance of cukes, I decided to try to make Rachael Ray's Quick Refrigerator pickles

here is what you need to gather

oh, and a Mason jar :)  There is something about Mason jars that I just love.. I store my sauces, my herbs, my soups.. I just love them :)

I made a few variations to her recipe (don't I always?)

Her 'eyeball' of 1/2 cup vinegar was not nearly enough.. maybe my super-awesome Mason jar was too big, but I needed about 1/3 cup more vinegar.

I also chopped the garlic and didn't add it to the vinegar mixture until I was about top turn off the heat from the mixture. I really don't like the taste of over-cooked garlic.. By adding it at the last minute, the sharp garlic flavor was able to mellow without any trace of bitterness.

I also cut my cukes into rounds rather than angles. I'm a rebel like that :)

The last change that I made was adding some whole black peppercorns. I'm a pepper fanatic, so the thought of my pickles a-marinating without pepper brought me to tears. *snif*

I ran the jar under warm water before I added the cucumbers and the halfway cooled liquid just so the there wasn't any issue with the pouring hot into cold & glass breaking nightmare.

These came out really good. I recommend letting them sit overnight in the fridge before eating them.. it took that long for the flavors to come together  in that perfect sweet/ sour flavor.


And as fast as I typed this blog, my zucchini in my garden has grown another 4 inches.....  it's pure magic!


xoxox

Week 3

Week 3 of our CSA was a bit different for us. I was not able to go due my recent leg surgery, so Scott & Ali went without me :(

Although I really did miss going, I think hat the two of them going on their own was a great experience for
the two of them!

Scott picking the peas..



Here is what we received week 3..

And here I am after hobbling from my new home, the couch, to explore our bounty

with Ali's help, or course!

She & I sat on the couch & shelled the peas together.. Scott steamed them & served them with a little bit of unsalted butter & salt & pepper... delicious!

The swiss chard was rainbow chard.. so many colors!! Scott sauted it with olive oil, salt & pepper & some chopped onion ( are you noticing a pattern here?)

Again, tasty AND colorful!


With all of the lettuce that we received, I tried to think out of the box as to how to utilize it.;  I spent some time researching & came up with Emeril's lettuce soup.

I agree, at first it sounded a bit strange, but I as I read the recipe , I thought that it reminded me of any cream-type soup, so I gave it a try.

WOW!! it was so light & flavorful ( not to mention healthy!) I've made it a few times now, although I have added 1 chopped jalapeno pepper to the recipe for just a little kick.

I'm still a week behind in my blogging, and have promised more recipes. I am starting to feel a little bit better ( depending on the day) , so as I work my way back into my kitchen, I will have more yummy recipes ( and pictures ) to post...

xoxoxo