Six Week Project: Day Thirty Three

Close your eyes and imagine a spring day, laced with a chill and drenched in a day's long rain. The kind of day where you can see your breath easily, and droplets of water drip from the tip of your nose, when your glasses are covered in bubbles of rain, and a little jacket doesn't quite cut it. Now, imagine the kinds of food you like to eat on those days: pot roast, chili, roast chicken, beef stew...how about a gooey grilled cheese and a steaming bowl of tomato soup? Bingo.

Tuesday night I made grilled cheese sandwiches on bread brushed with olive oil, then hugged around four different kinds of local cheese: Laurel Valley Havarti and Country Jack, Athens Own Cheddar and Kenny's Farmhouse Norwood. Ooey, gooey, hearty and the bearer of a fabulous bite from all that ripe, local cheese. While I imagined this fromage-tastic concoction would be the highlight of this dinner, as it turned out, it was shown up...by soup.

I bought spinach last Saturday from Green Edge Organics. I wanted to find a way to consume said spinach, along with its cooking water. See, spinach releases its nutrients when it's cooked. Ever had someone tell you to drink the cooking water? That's because it contains the good stuff. When it dawned on me that I could drop lovely chopped fresh spinach into a soup, and I'd get all the good stuff and also a hearty spoon full of other great flavors, I was sold. I made my own version of Tomato-Florentine Soup. Wow. I'd make it again right now if I could. It was a full, thick soup with big chunks of meaty tomato, but just enough creaminess, and flecked with nutritious, delicious spinach. If you're a soup fan, and even more so, a tomato fan, try this. Enjoy! And please, for me, buy local and eat well.



Queen Honeybea's
Tomato Florentine Soup
Serves 2 large portions, 3 smaller portions.

1 TBS. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 TBS. local honey
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 TBS. organic tomato paste
28 oz. can of organic, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, juice reserved
1 TBS. chopped, dry basil
2 tsp. chopped, dry oregano
3 cups of vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups finely chopped local fresh spinach
1 TBS. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 TBS. organic, low-fat Greek Yogurt

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium size sauce pot over medium heat. Saute the onions until sweating and translucent, about 3 or 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, honey, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Cook until much of the liquid has evaporated, about 8 or 9 minutes.

2. Add the basil, oregano, reserved tomato juice, vegetable stock, spinach, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir together and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until thickened and the flavors are correct. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt until well blended. (Do NOT let the soup return to a boil after the yogurt is added) Serve with hot toasted bread, grilled cheese or just all by itself.