The Eat Local Challenge: Day 6

The other day I purchased a large bag (around 4-5 lbs) of green beans at the Farmers' Market with the intention of eating some and processing some for the freezer. Well, to my dismay I didn't care much for them...at least steamed. They were a bit too mature (a bit tough and dry), although they had decent flavor...so in order to save them I had to find a recipe to use them up that would somehow eliminate the parts I didn't like. The following soup did the trick (with a little bit of recipe manipulation)!!!

Green Bean Soup (Transylvania style!)*

2 lbs fresh green beans
1 large clove of garlic
1 handful fresh parsley
1 pinch of salt
4 slices Canadian bacon, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 Tbsp butter, divided
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup Goat's milk yogurt (for the lactose challenged in the family)
3 Tbsp rice vinegar

In a large pot over medium heat, combine green beans, garlic, parsley, salt and water to cover, and cook until beans are tender.

Reserve 2 cups of water from cooked beans, transfer bean mixture into blender and puree, in batches, until smooth. Return to stove and put over low heat.

Fry Canadian bacon until browned, add to bean puree. Add 1 Tbsp butter and cook onions over low to lightly caramelize, add 1/2 Tbsp butter and flour, stirring until brown. Slowly add reserved water, stirring slowly and constantly to prevent lumps.

Cook onion/flour mixture to thicken a bit, then add to the bean soup and bring to a boil. Stir in yogurt (warm up yogurt by spooning some of the hot soup into a large bowl with yogurt first, then add back into the kettle) and vinegar.

Serve with warm bread.

We hope you like it, it was a big hit at our dinning table tonight!


*The original recipe can be found on All-Recipes.com