Recipes

A Gardener's Recipe
I wrote in an earlier post that I was going to give more recipes, but before I give one here, I need to say that I seldom cook from them. I cook from scratch most every night, but I wait until an ingredient inspires me to make something of it, or we have too much of am ingredient that demands to be cooked! I often take inspiration from cookbooks, get ideas from them, but go on to create my own dishes. Cooking this way is creative and fun, but I know that many people need some help to get started, especially when new to the kitchen.
So, here is a recipe for when carrots from your garden are abundant!

Carrots 'n Peas Soup
1 T butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, strings removed, diced
1 t celery seeds
1 t thyme
pinch of salt, more to taste
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
4 large carrots, sliced thin
1 sweet potato sliced thin
2 white potatoes, sliced thin
1 quart stock (I make veggie stock, but chicken will do)
1 cup peas (from the garden or frozen)
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat OK, yogurt also OK).

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, saute the onions and celery in the butter until soft, adding pinch of salt. Add herbs and cook for another minute or two. Add rest of ingredients except peas and sour cream. Cook until vegetables are soft. Allow to cool a bit and puree in food processor or blender. Return to pot and heat. Add peas. Adjust seasoning with more salt and/or pepper. When peas are cooked through, turn off heat and add sour cream. Serve warm, preferably with home made bread.
Yum!
Happy eating!