7 days out- really! Tomato Squash Herb Soup

I've been wanting to try this soup ever since I got the New England Soup Kitchen Cook Book. This vegetable heavy soup starts with fresh Butternut squash. I got mine at the Thayer

Farmer's Market from Bill. It has lots of onion(local), garlic( local) & carrots cooked with fresh tomato (local). After simmering and getting soft the broth-- veggie or chicken--gets added as well as some wine or sherry. I used some chardonnay, but really couldn't taste it as an addition. Then gobbs of fresh chopped basil and cilantro. The whole batch is pureed to a fine texture.

While most vegetarian soups can seem a bit thin, this one has a bit of umph due to the thickening caused by the squash. If you like, this can be a regular part of our line up.

More about our soups--

Each day I plan to serve one vegetarian and one meat-eater soup. Made with a homemade veggie stock created by simmering lots of veggie parts for many hours, the above soup would be the vegetarian option. I plan to always use stocks and broths that are completely free of added MSG and preservatives. I'll use fresh or frozen options and resort to canned tomatoes only in the dead of winter. My chicken soup will most often be created while simmering the chicken for our sandwiches, salads and entrees. I am hoping to establish a good working relationship with a local meat processor to save me the shin bones to make real beef stock. Done right, the bones are first seasoned and then roasted until very dark in the oven. This gives beef stock its deep coloration.

While the sandwiches made from fresh bread are wonderful, and salads are always popular, it is the soups that get my creative juices flowing. I know that sometimes it can be a stretch to chow down on a hot soup during mid summer. But it is that very soup which truly celebrates all the fresh ingredients. Most of the time, those of us who are in the workforce are in an air conditioned environment, anyway.

We will be offering soups 2 ways. A large bowl of soup (12 oz) will come with a slice of homemade bread or cornbread. If you "pick two" you'll get an 8 oz serving with a small salad or a half sandwich. Soups on!!!