summer stock

it's just about the end of summer, although you'd never know it, because it feels like late autumn. the slugs have returned and are i'm now waging war among the red cabbage - i lost too much broccoli to those minions of satan to give up now. i found a late term green caterpillar hoping for lunch deep in one of the heads, but my handy garden-tag-cum-spike took care of it.

hell hath no fury like a born again vegetable gardener.

i've been pruning the yellow squash leaves back - i'm not sure if you're supposed to do that. but they were slowly creeping around my precious cinnamon basil stalks, (yes, yes, i planted them too close together. now i know.) and i forgot to train the growth up the fence, so i've got a ton of baby squash just now starting.

anyway, the last of the full-grown yellow squash was sitting in my garden basket. three of 'em.

adapted from lesa heebner's "cooking with the seasons" zucchini and cashew cream soup (i'll note what i changed from the recipe):

summer squash and cashew cream soup

3.5 cups chicken broth (i used three. i don't see why you can't use vegetable broth. we had only chicken broth made from our smoked chicken the previous week, so it gave it an interesting smoked kind of undertone.)

1-2 (to make 3 cips diced) potatoes, diced

4 zucchini, dice 2 and slice 2 (i had only three medium-ish summer squash. hence the change.)

1 large yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, finely minced (yeah. right. try five.)

2 TB chopped parsley

1 1/2 dried basil (i used about 5 fresh leaves instead, minced.)

1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne (no way in hell is this going to go down the gullet of a 6 year old and an 8 year old who claim regular ol' pepper is "spicy". i went with paprika. i think the cayenne would have tasted better, but the paprika let me enjoy my meal.)

3/4 cup raw cashews (here's where it gets interesting. my partner in crime had unknowingly consumed almost the entire stash of cashews. so - i went with half cashew and half macadamia nut. the end result was probably sweeter than it would have been otherwise, but whatever.)

1/2 cup water

soy sauce to taste

1. Place chicken stock, potatoes, diced zucchini, onion, and garlic in saucepan. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes (or until partner-in-crime deems you have stacked enough wood to get out of the rain and back into the kitchen).

2. Add the sliced zucchini, parsley, basil, and cayenne. Cook about 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

3. Meanwhile, make cashew cream by grinding cashews in food processor or blender to a powder. With machine running, add water to make the "cream". (note to self: by god, this is genius.)

4. Add cashew cream to soup. Stir and heat thoroughly. Add soy sauce to taste and serve.