Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Taste of the Market on Saturday was a fresh Vegetable Bean Soup. I used the following recipe as a guide and changed it to suit both my taste and the vegetables on hand. Please note that it is a very easy soup to make, only taking approximately one hour from start to finish.
I had the ingredients in The Market and the use of the kitchen at the Crepe Myrtle Cafe. I put everything into my trusty electric cooker. My customers sampled the soup and some asked for seconds. They liked the collards; many had never tasted such mild, sweet collards. My farmer said it was 14 degrees at his farm in Little Texas. I believe that is cold enough to sweeten greens. I look forward to his turnips recovering from too much cold.
Vegetable Bean Soup
Use no-salt added tomatoes, beans and broth for a healthful alternative to high-sodium soups. Another healthful option: Omit the bacon and saute the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
3 slices bacon, chopped 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt added
Great Northern beans, drained
1 onion, diced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 celery stalks, diced
Freshly ground black pepper
2 small carrots, diced
6 cups fresh spinach
2 zucchini, diced
1/4 cup grated Parmigiana Reggiano
cheese
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 (14-ounce) can no-salt added
chopped tomatoes, undrained
1. Place bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes or until almost crisp. Add onion, celery and carrots; cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini and garlic; cook 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans, broth and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in spinach. Ladle into soup bowls and top with grated cheese. Makes 10 cups.
Serves 6. About 230 calories per serving.
The changes that I made:
Used olive oil, green onions, fresh Roma tomatoes, 2 cups Campbell's tomato juice and 1 cup of chicken stock, 1 can of white kidney beans, 1 cup of canned black beans (rinsed), 1 cup of white hominy. I substituted fresh collard greens from Little Texas for the spinach. Everything else stayed the same.
You can also use cabbage, kale, Swiss chard. Please let us know what substitutions you might make.
This Saturday, January 22, the Taste of the Market will feature a No Knead Bread made with organic milk from Working Cows Dairy, free-range eggs from Ledbetter Acres, and stone-ground bread flour from Oakview Granary--all Alabama products. The tasting and demonstration will begin at 10:00am. Bring a recipe to share on this blog and receive a 15% discount on your Market purchases. Looking forward to seeing you at The Market at Blooming Colors, 1192 S Donahue Drive (across from Kinnucan's), Auburn, Alabama. Phone (334) 524-4767.
