Rabbit Food

This is what my kitchen counter is looking like quite a bit these days.

The lettuce and spinach that I planted in March is rewarding me with

an abundance of leafy greens.  After one trip to the garden, I came back

with all this and it didn't look as though I had picked a thing.  Shhhh!
Don't tell the rabbits what I've got going on here.   I have

soooooo  much lettuce, folks.  If you live near me, come and get some!

Look at this beautiful head of butter lettuce.

I have Romaine, green leaf, and a baby red mix of looseleaf lettuces.

Oh, and lots of spinach.  I'm just so pleased with how well these

have done and I haven't put any chemicals on them - totally organic.

Not only do they taste fabulous, but I feel so smug when I walk down

the produce aisle and see those plastic bags of organic greens, 

selling for three dollars a bag.   This is becoming the most used 

tool in my kitchen right now - the salad spinner.

I've been trying all kinds of new recipes and some old favorites.

I feel a few cooking posts coming on.... so bear with me.

This is the most exciting time of year for someone who loves to 

cook with fresh food.   Especially, if you've grown it yourself!!

We've had a little cold snap the past few days.  I finally broke down

and turned the heat back on this morning.   I felt like soup.

I tried a new recipe for a Tomato Florentine.  It hit the spot.

I started by chopping onions and garlic. (what's new, right?)

I also chopped a couple stalks of celery.

After sauteing these, I added tomatoes and chicken broth.

This all simmered for about 30 minutes.  I used

my really cool, immersion blender and pureed the mixture.

I wanted a few chunks of tomato left, but didn't want to be

biting down on pieces of celery and onion.  This could also 

be done in a blender.  This is one of my kitchen toys that I don't 

use all that often, but when I do - I really like it.

I brought the soup back to a simmer and added small shell

pasta.  Any small pasta would do.

I let this cook for about 8 minutes and then it was time to

add the spinach.  If I had baby spinach, I would have just

dumped it right in - but my spinach has passed the baby stage....

so I shredded it up and then added it to the soup.  It's basically

done at this point.  The spinach just needs to wilt.  Add salt

and pepper to taste and a liberal amount of parmesan reggiano

cheese to each bowl.   I think it would also be great with

shredded basil in place of the spinach, but then it wouldn't

be a florentine, would it?

Tomato Florentine Soup

1 T. olive oil

1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2/3 cup finely chopped celery

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup water

2 (14 oz. cans) chicken broth

2 (14.5 oz. cans) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2/3 cup uncooked small shell pasta

2 cups bagged prewashed spinach

salt and pepper to taste

grated fresh parmesan cheese

Heat oil in soup pan.  Add onion and celery

and cook 7 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute.  Add water, broth,

tomatoes and tomato sauce.   Bring to a simmer

and cook 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Puree soup if desired.  Add pasta and cook

8 minutes.  Add spinach, cook 2 minutes

or until it wilts.   Stir in pepper and salt

and top each bowl with cheese.

* Goal #23  - Try 50 new recipes

• Goal # 10 - Eat 3 meatless meals a week.