I had a perfect moment yesterday afternoon.
The glorious sun came shining down on us and it was a beautiful day - it may rain here a lot, but when the sun shines it is the clearest most beautiful light.
So the kids and I spent late afternoon in the backyard on the tree swing.
Then we came in so I could make dinner.
I was spinning a salad looking out my kitchen window -
The Gluten Free Kid was in her room (which unfortunately for her is over the kitchen) and I could hear her playing the song from the end of Juno (you know the duet on the front steps) on her guitar,
I could still see my middle daughter dashing around the back yard plucking the blooms off the crocuses that have started to bloom,
And my very active five year old boy was actually being quiet in his room (yes, I knew it was too quiet and that he had to be doing something terribly destructive to be this quiet, but oh the quiet was so nice ),
At that moment, I looked up and the sun dipped behind the tops of the mountains and
it was a perfect moment.
This put me in the mood for a soup that was warm (because it is still chilly here) but gives a taste of the soon to come summer vegetable crops. 5 medium zucchini
Garden Soup
- 5 medium zucchini
- 3 large carrots
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4 cups GF chicken stock (Pacific Natural Foods is GF)
- 8 ounces package GF cream cheese (see below for casein free)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Cut unpeeled zucchini in 1 inch slices and peeled carrots into 1/2 inch slices. Combine with onion and chicken stock in a large heavy pot.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender crisp – about 7 minutes
Add half the vegetable mixture and half the cream cheese to a food processor (or as much as it will hold) and blend until smooth. Place the pureed mixture in a bowl. Continue until all of the soup and cheese is blended.
Be careful, the hot soup will put off steam in the food processor.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Great served hot or cold.
**For casein free you can use Tofuitti Better than Cream Cheese. Please click here to double check the ingredients and determine for yourself whether you think this product is safe enough for the gluten free diet. As an alternative, you can also use ¾ cup of coconut milk.
This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Simple Classic, which is sold by the Junior League of Seattle.
Serve with Caesar salad and ’Cause You’re Special Hearty Biscuits.
All of my recipes are indexed at Gluten Free Mom.com
