Does Soup Sell?

From the bean of Green Bean.

A few days ago, Arduous got all Ruchi on us green bloggers for our food porn. The pie, the ice cream, the cookies. As green bloggers, shouldn't we also be promoting healthy food? Does anything beyond dessert sell? Just because the sugar and cream are organic doesn't mean we should be eating that, she argued.

I'll admit, as I sat there with a mouth full of cherry turnover, I was annoyed. And a bit defensive. I eat plenty healthy. I don't live on dessert . . . entirely. Okay, okay, I'm guilty of posting some porn. But hey, most of it contains some sort of fruit or vegetable. A perusal of my post food posts though alleviated some of my guilt. I write about life beyond dessert sometimes - spring rolls, fava bean crostini and such. With a sigh of relief, I went on my way and thought nothing more of it.

Until last night while I was making dinner. Chopping up my front yard crookneck squash, my bulging raised bed onions, the thyme and rosemary I harvested outside the front door, I realized that soup can be sexy. I stirred in some supple spinach, massaged my mushrooms and gazed at the garlic and viola, my entry for the Arduous (she is difficult, isn't she!) Healthy Food Porn Carnival was born.

Friendship Soup
(named because I got the recipe from a friend who got it from a friend and so on)

1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 potatoes, cubed
8 summer squash, sliced
1 bunch of spinach, chopped (if baby spinach, no need to chop)
1/2 lb of brown mushrooms, chopped
32 ounces of vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

1) Toss mushrooms and 2 squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Spread on a foil covered cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, covered with foil. Remove foil and roast for another 15 minutes.


2) Meanwhile, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add potato and one half of the broth. Cook 10-15 minutes and then add 6 of the squash and rest of broth. Cook another 15 minutes. Add spinach and cook for 5 minutes. Take off heat and puree - either using an immersion blender (which I inherited when a friend moved out of the country!) or ladeling into a blender or food processor. Stir roasted squash and mushrooms into soup.


3) Garnish with homemade croutons and grated hard cheese.

The soup makes use of summer's bounty (e.g., the squash!) and freezes beautifully. I tend to freeze mine in single serving sizes so that I can have a quick lunch or dinner at the ready.


Check out Arduous today for links to several other naughty little dishes without an ounce of organic whipping cream in them and answer the age old question, does soup sell?