Mixed Veggie Medley

When I woke up this morning, I felt like consuming something light and clean. A look into the fridge revealed a number of great-looking veggies, so the idea of a nice fresh juice came to mind. I knew Emily would appreciate it, too. This is not an inexpensive juice, but the taste is definitely worth the effort. So much goodness in one little glass!

Mixed Veggie Medley

Ingredients

4 large carrots

4-5 apples

1-2 cucumbers

2 stalks celery

1/2 head broccoli (about 3 cups)

1/2 bunch Italian parsley

Preparation

Wash all produce, cut into pieces small enough to run through a juicer, and juice. Makes approximately 1 quart of fresh, delicious juice.

Sweet Corn Soup

The first time I had corn, raw, I was fifteen and my parents had decided to take my brother and me on a week-long fall vacation to a farm in Bavaria. Being big-city kids, my brother and I enjoyed being outdoors and helping with the harvest at the time. The day we helped with harvesting corn, I remember sitting on top of a huge pile of corn on the trailer the tractor pulled off the fields at the end of the day. But before leaving the fields, the farmer we stayed with peeled an ear and handed it to me, saying, "eat." I dug my teeth into the corn and thought it was quite tasty. Up until that day, I didn't know people could eat fresh corn. Actually, I didn't know anyone who ever ate fresh corn. Corn, in my experience, was fed to the animals. At least in Germany.

Many years later, after having moved to Minnesota, I found out that most people in this part of the world spend the time from mid-July to mid-August eating corn-on-the-cob almost every day–more or less. Corn-on-the-cob, heated for only a few minutes in boiling water, then slathered with butter, salt and pepper or sprinkled with a little Parmesan cheese, is a staple in our house every summer. We eat so much that the ears quite literally start coming out of our ears, and by the time we're tired of corn, the season is over, and, satiated, we can wait and anticipate the new crop next year.

Today, I found myself in the kitchen with a scant dozen ears that I wanted to transform into something other than corn-on-the-cob. My sister-in-law Julie has a wonderful recipe for corn chowder that is out of this world, but I thought it would be a bit heavy for the high temperatures and humidity we've been experiencing this weekend. I settled on a recipe for sweet corn soup that I found in Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food. According to the girls, it's delicious–they already had seconds. What I love about it is that the ingredients are simple, the soup is easy to prepare, and it is tasty.

Sweet Corn Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 very large sweet onion (roughly 2+ cups chopped)

10-12 ears of fresh corn

salt (I like kosher and/or sea salt)

2 qts. water

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat, but be careful not to brown the butter. Add the chopped onion and sauté until the onion is softened and translucent, about 15 minutes. Yes, the onion will quite literally swim in butter, but that will all change once the corn is added.

Meanwhile, chuck the corn (cut the kernels off the cobs). After the onion is softened, add the corn and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add salt liberally. Then add the water.

Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil soup for a few minutes, no more than five minutes. Turn off the heat and puree in batches to desired consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt if needed. Yield: about 3 quarts.

Fresh Basil Pesto from the Garden

It's been pretty much three months since I last blogged, but tonight's dinner was just too fabulous to pass up writing about. We've been busy with construction in the house and family visiting from Germany, so there was not a lot of time left for me to blog. It's good to get back into the swing of things and record memorable meals for posterity.

I have made basil pesto many times, but I don't recall the last time I thought it was really outstanding. Tonight's pesto was the best I recall from recent years. Maybe it was the unbelievably fragrant homegrown, organic basil that made the difference–or the time I took to meticulously toast the pine nuts or the high-quality organic extra-virgin olive oil I used. Whatever it was, tonight's pesto was better than any pesto I remember. So it's worth writing about. Try it for yourself. Indulge, and let the goodness of summer explode on your taste buds!

Fabulous Fresh Basil Pesto from the Garden

Ingredients:

2 cups tightly packed fresh basil (equals about 4 cups lightly packed or 2 oz.)

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1 very large clove of garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (a very generous 1/4 cup that is!)

and more freshly grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the meal

Preparation:

I do have a mortar and pestle, but enjoying the convenience of modern kitchen equipment, I always make my pesto in the food processor.

Add the first three ingredients–basil, pine nuts and garlic–and chop coarsely. Then, while running the food processor blade on the continuous setting, slowly pour in the olive oil. Add the cheese and, voilà, your pesto is ready to be tossed with hot pasta. Serve in pasta bowls and add a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

By the way, pesto can be frozen as long as the cheese is not added. So, if you plan on freezing your pesto for later use, freeze it without adding any cheese and add the cheese after your pesto is defrosted. Pesto is also good on sandwiches. My favorite sandwich consists of two slices of sprouted grain bread, pesto smeared on both slices, and 1/2 avocado and a sliced tomato sandwiched in between. That's yummy! Yield: about 1 cup of pesto.