CSA reject summer soup
End-of-week veggies in a big ol' pot
At the end of each week, I’m confronted with which fruits and veggies arrived last Monday in our CSA box that we didn’t manage to eat. Our CSA is $29 a week, it’s massive, and it gets delivered to our doorstep by very kind people. We save money with this box living in Southern California, even if we don’t end up eating everything. Even though I despise food waste and try everything I can not to throw any food away, we always end up composting at least one or two items from our box. But hey, nothing really goes to waste when you compost, right?
One of my favorite things to do is make a soup with all the “rejects” at the end of the week. Sometimes, the veggies aren’t really rejects at all (zucchini, what are you still doing in the crisper drawer on Sunday?!), but for whatever reason we didn’t manage to consume them. And we have a new box coming tomorrow. So time is of the essence.
I’m someone who adores soup so much that I’ll eat it even in 90-degree San Diego heat, as was the case this past Sunday. I don’t care that soup season has long passed, taking sweater weather along with it. I love soup! I love that it’s kind of like a salad, but tastier and with more fat. I love how well a bowl of soup is paired with a crispy slice of bread and butter. I love it.
I am by no means a recipe developer. I’m nowhere close to a good enough cook to make recipes and food a central part of this newsletter. But cooking is part of homemaking, so I wanted to share this thrown-together soup recipe in case anyone else is feeling a little lost for what to do with their own end-of-week CSA rejects.
CSA Reject Summer Soup
Ingredients
Healthy glug of olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 zucchini, diced
Hefty handful of Romano beans, ends cut off and stalks cut into smallish pieces
3 ribs of celery, cut however you want
6 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes
4 cups of your favorite broth, plus 2 cups of water
2 potatoes, skinned and diced
Handful of your favorite pasta (if you have spaghetti or another long shape, break it up into smaller pieces for easy eating)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Any other seasonings you want
Cooking instructions
Heat a healthy glug of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium heat. Prepare your onion, zucchini, Romano beans, and celery. Once the oil is shimmering, add your veg along with some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Coat the veggies in the oil. Allow to cook until the onions are translucent.
While veggies are cooking, prepare garlic and potatoes. Put the diced potatoes in cold water to keep them from browning.
Add garlic and any additional seasonings you plan to add to the soup. Add can(s) of tomatoes. Add broth and extra 2 cups of water. Allow the soup to come to a boil.
Once soup has come to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Add the potatoes.
Once the potatoes are fork tender, add pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente.
Serve warm with freshly shredded parmesan cheese on top and a slice of bread and butter on the side. Bread and butter are NOT OPTIONAL!!!!
Notes:
The veggies can be whatever you have on hand, but onion and garlic are essential (imo).
Fire roasted diced tomatoes are DELISH!!! If you have them, use them in this soup.
Canned beans or leftover rotisserie chicken make for great added protein (the main protein sources in this soup are the Romano beans and pasta). If adding cooked chicken, add it right before eating to avoid drying it out.
I used Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning for this but herbs de Provence, oregano, rosemary, and/or thyme — or nothing! — could also work well.
Soups like this can easily be made vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and/or kosher. Just make adjustments to suit your needs.