I’ve recently found that I am a million times more productive if I leave the house to do things. For example: I have a long, long list of thank you notes to write for all of the lovely gifts we received at our baby shower, and somehow I can’t make myself sit down at my desk long enough to just write them. For me, the same thing happens with blogging. I have a list of recipes and lots of photos just waiting to be published, but nope. It just hasn’t happened. Does this happen to you? What is it about sitting yourself down at a coffee shop that makes you work harder? Maybe it’s the people around that are watching…making sure you’re doing what you should be. In any case. Here I am…and guess what? My notes are written and you’re reading a shiny new blog post. Yipee! Thanks to all the encouragement of perfect strangers sitting around me.

On a side note: I’m full term today, so this baby can safely come any day now. Let’s all say a prayer and hope really hard she comes sooner rather than later. Let me know if you have any tips on making that happen.:)

Here’s a yummy new way I’ve used up my zucchini! The nice thing about this soup is that you can enjoy it hot or cold. Personally, I like my soup hot…but I hear it’s really refreshing chilled as well. However, I’m thinking the cheese would be omitted in that case.

 

Ingredients

1 large leek
4-6 slices of bacon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 pound zucchini, sliced (about 3 small)
½ pound small new potatoes, quartered
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup white cheddar cheese (optional, omit if serving soup chilled)

 

Directions

Remove root, tough outer leaves and tops from leek, leaving 2 inches of dark leaves. Thinly slice, rinse well and drain.

Cook bacon in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes, or until crisp. Remove bacon, crumble and set aside for later use. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings in pot.

Saute leek and garlic along with a pinch of salt in the hot drippings for 2-3 minutes, or until tender. Add chicken broth, zucchini and potatoes and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until zucchini and potatoes are soft. Stir in milk, sour cream and parsley. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth and silky. Alternately, you can let the mixture cool some and puree it in a food processor or blender.

Salt and pepper to taste and stir in cheese if desired. Serve with crumbled bacon and cheese and enjoy!

If you prefer a chilled soup, simply refrigerate for 4-6 hours before serving.:)

 

Recipe adapted from the Southern Living Farmer’s Market Cookbook

Yields 5-6 servings