seasonal, modern, exuberant
Unlike its cousin, the common celery, celeriac (also known as celery root or knob celery) is grown for its roots rather than its stalks and leaves. As ugly as the root may look, it offers a white flesh that, when cooked, becomes incredibly tender.
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With their brilliant orange-colored flesh, winter squashes are the kings of winter vegetables. Whether roasted, pan-sautéed, cooked in soups or stews, or puréed, they’re delicately flavorful and imbue a lovely sweetness.
Today’s recipe starts with a white wine reduction, which enhances that wonderful natural sweetness but also brings a bit of tang to the soup.
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By mid-summer cucumber recipes are a hot commodity: a day doesn’t go by without my receiving a comment or an email about cukes. Everyone, it seems, is trying to find some new recipes for the bumper crop growing in their backyard.
So it stands to reason that by August, one of the most popular recipes on this blog is my chilled cucumber soup with yogurt and fresh mint. I thought it was time to publish another version, one that takes advantage of yet another mid-summer bumper crop: peppers!
Today’s chilled soup is made with snappy seedless cucumbers and firm, zesty, locally grown yellow peppers. The goat milk yogurt adds a lovely tang to the soup. And for a bit of fun, I like to serve the soup with seared Shishito peppers – tiny heirloom Japanese peppers – on the side.
Shishito peppers are mildly spicy and altogether succulent. Sautéed whole until they blister, sprinkled with salt and served warm, they literally melt in your mouth!
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Yellow heirloom tomatoes — like the Golden Jubilee, Amana Orange, Yellow Brandywine or Bicolor Mortgage Lifter — are, slightly sweet, juicy and fleshy. They also have very few seeds, making them perfect candidates for gazpacho.
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Who doesn’t crave a bowl of black bean soup on a cold night? Warm, comforting, nutritious, flavorful – it’s impossible not to have seconds.
This black bean soup is all of that and more: the pan-roasted poblano peppers and the chipotle bring a warm spiciness, while the crispy shoestring tortillas add an irresistible crunchy bite.
One last touch: a dash of Tequila and lime juice, added to the soup just before serving, make all those flavors a little brighter.
All in all it’s a pretty delicious soup!
And a delicious soup demands an equally delicious wine. Paired with a wonderfully vibrant Dolcetto, this black bean soup will make you rethink comfort food.
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