And also soup

For some reason this has been a very active blogging week for me. Hello - FOURTH POST IN A ROW.

What do I think this is, NaBloPoMo? Sheesh. I am wickedly out of touch.

Anyway, I made some soup this week and it was so good, used so many random things languishing in my cupboard and fulfilled the "grow your own stuff and cook with it" requirement of Grow Your Own, that I thought it warranted some of my yammering.

Plus, if you don't have something in mind for dinner yet, this might be a good idea. Especially if you live in an evil place that is not yet experiencing spring. I've seen a lot of comments where people mention snow and I even saw someone had a photo of them hiding Easter eggs in a snowbank, so I'm thinking not everyone is coaxing along strawberries and cucumbers right now like someone I know (me) and could perhaps use a nice warm dinner and maybe less talk about spring gardening.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect.

Anyway, my favorite farmgirl and recipe inventer, Susan, put this recipe up the other day and I knew right away it was The One.

The One I had been searching for to provide us with sustenance and also The One that would empty my cupboards of canned goods that were taking up some valuable space. Also I was starting to feel guilty for buying stuff I wasn't immediately using, so you know, it helped fix that, too.

Winner!

The soup is called, Cream (or not) Of Artichoke Soup With Garlic, Onions, & Garbanzo Beans.

I chose the "(or not)" version of this recipe since I can't be eating the Evil Cream this close to shorts and bikini weather, ok. But I am considering heating the leftovers tonight (recipe makes a lot) and stirring in some FF Greek yogurt to see if I can achieve the divinity that Susan spoke of without having to then have a strict talking-to with my too-big-ass later on. I'll let you know if this ruins it.

Now I know I said this recipe used up a lot of stuff sitting around in my cupboard (chickpeas, artichoke hearts, a whole sack of onions) but it also used up a good bit of my parsley hedge (YAY!) and that is where the Grow Your Own bit comes in.


I've grown a lot of parsley, people. And it still comes as a great surprise to me. I mean, I put the seeds in the ground, yes, but then it totally grew and never died. It OVERWINTERED. So, now, it's spring and (whoops, sorry snow people) and it's getting bigger now. A little scary.

Anyway, I pulled a big stalk and minced it all up nice to Super Garnish this dish. When I reheat the leavin's tonight I will be mincing and stirring in a bunch more because I have a lot of parsley I need to use and also it tastes nice.

So - I grew it myself and now it's taking over and making its way into every recipe. Maybe next we have Parsley Brownies?

Another bonus of this recipe was the fact that it gave me an excuse to make croutons from a leftover loaf of sourdough and that was about the best thing ever. Soup is good, sure, but put fresh parsley, a little parmiggiano reggiano and homemade garlic croutons on top and it becomes a masterpiece.

I highly recommend this recipe and also making your own croutons. I made them like this:

Finny's On-the-Fly Half-Assed Croutons

Ingredients:
1/2 Garlic and Cheese Sourdough loaf from Trader Joe's, sliced
Garlic salt
1 clove garlic, halved
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat lightly with oil. Rub slices of bread with garlic halves and then cut into cubes. Toss it all (garlic, too) onto the sheet and coat. Drizzle (HATE THIS WORD) with olive oil and garlic salt - toss to coat. Slam it in the oven for 15 minutes or so, toss. Slam it back in for another 15 minutes or so until the cubes are browned all over. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with shredded parm. Let it cool for a minute or so and then sprinkle over the soup and parsley. YUM.

While you may have leftovers of the soup (because it makes a lot, not because it's not ruuuuuully good) you will NOT have leftovers of the croutons. Sorry, they're very good and you won't be able to resist. Just saying.

Happy Leavin's Night, y'all.