Monday Menu: Garden Bounty

With tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers ready for harvest, I had to spend the weekend processing them.  Unlike other years, when there was an abundance of veggies to freeze, this year has been…sluggish.

The heat and drought have all the plants struggling. But I am beginning to get enough jalapenos and tomatoes that I had to decide what to do. The jalapenos were pickled, jarred and frozen (a great alternative to canning). Don’t forget those gloves when processing peppers! Three small jars will go a long way.

There were not enough tomatoes to bother with processing and freezing. But there were quite a few that needed to be used immediately. Spinach tomato soup for the win! (Recipe below) I froze six cups in the freezer cubes and the remainder was dinner.

Cucumbers are coming in very slowly, but I did manage to do a small jar of refrigerator dill pickles and another batch of Oi Muchim. I went with my original recipe for this batch.  For the dill pickles, it’s pretty basic, but I use this recipe.

Tomato-Spinach Soup

• 1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 spicy Italian sausage)*
• 1/4 of a small onion, chopped
• 24 oz diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, cleaned
• 8 oz sliced carrots (I use frozen)
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup water, more as needed
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp dried basil, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (opt)
• salt and pepper to taste
• Grated Parmesan for garnish
• spinach chiffonade for garnish

blender, saucepan

In saucepan, brown ground beef and onions. In a blender, blend together spinach and tomatoes, until smooth*.*  Add to beef mixture, along with vegetables and spices.  Bring to low boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with Parmesan and spinach chiffonade.  Makes 4 generous servings.

*if you want to keep it vegetarian, skip the ground meat. Or substitute mushrooms, always a flavorful choice.

**Blending the spinach and tomatoes together gives you a nice hearty tomato base for the soup.  You can add some additional spinach leaves at the end if you like, letting them get limp but not overcooked.

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