Friday, July 25, 2008

Market to table - One local summer week 8

This week's One Local Summer Challenge all-local meal is an oldie, but a goodie. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the farmers market last Saturday but I keep homemade soup stocked in the freezer for weeks such as this and how easy is it to pull some jars of soup from the freezer and enjoy the homemade goodness of local, homemade vegetable and italian sausage soup? Trust me - it's SO not hard. 

This wonderful soup (if I do say so myself) started out with chopped onions, mushrooms, parsley, potato, green pepper, banana peppers and zucchini sauteed in a large frying pan. While the veggies were softening, I cooked up the italian sausage links whole and cut them into slices. Then into the pot everything went - the sauteed veggies and the italian sausages as well as the grease, then I added about half a dozen chopped tomatoes, the stock I'd been saving in the fridge from other veggie dinners (like steamed veggies and boiled potatoes), and both black and navy beans that had been soaked overnight.I I refrigerated what I could eat in a week and froze the rest. Honestly, thawed and reheated, this soup tastes as good as the first day I made it, and aside from the olive oil and some salt, it's completely local. Leftovers never tasted so good!

Revealing My Sources

All the veggies (and the olive oil too, actually) came from our local farmers market. The italian sausage came from our local dairy

For More Information

For more recipes and ideas on local meals, check out the One Local Summer Challenge website (hosted by Farm to Philly) and see what others are eating (weekly OLS posts are made to theFarm to Philly website on Tuesdays of each week). 

If you're in the BCS area and are looking for local suppliers here in town, visit my post here, where I list sources for all kinds of goodies.

Happy (and mindful) eating!

5 comments:

Green Bean said...

I love how you set up your posts - Revealing My Sources, etc. I miss homemade soup. I keep homemade stock in the freezer but my youngest cries every time I make soup. I need to get him over that because yours looked darned good.

J said...

I love your One Local Summer updates. You are doing so well, and I must say, I am jealous you can get local olive oil!

I really am going to have to make some soup per your suggestions. It's a bit hot for soup (in my opinion) now, but over the winter, I think your ideas for tasty frugal soups will make their way into my belly. :-)

hmd said...

Green Bean - cries when you make soup? But it's good stuff :) Even in the heat, I enjoy a nice cup of soup. There's something soothing about it.

Jennifer - Actually, the olive oil isn't local. The woman who sells it at the market is local but she has her own villa in tuscany and brings it back home here in Bryan to sell it. Hers is a great story.

Sam said...

This soup looks especially delicious!

I have a terrible tendency to make soo much soup that I get really sick of it quick. I should get into the habit of making smaller batches, because it is a nice, way to eat your veggies.

hmd said...

Beany - Thanks! I just love soup. Something therapeutic about sitting down to a bowl of soup and a cheese sammy.

You could do smaller batches or just freeze it. I think it makes really easy, fast meals when all you have to do it pull it out of the freezer. Or if you have a pressure canner (I'm still waiting for mine to arrive) you can keep it on the shelf and not fill up your freezer.