Summer Alphabet Soup
Visit a farm or stand and bring home a basketful of native vegetables. Then trim, snip, and simmer them into a large pot of vegetable soup. Let the kids select their favorite vegetables (everyone likes corn, many like green beans); introduce one or two that may not have gone over well in the past (zucchini).
Restaurant chefs like to make stock from vegetable remnants. We follow that idea here, by cutting the kernels off corn cobs, then simmering the cobs in the pot so they release their sweet taste into the broth. Start the soup with onions and slender carrots. These are called aromatics and they form the base of many soups. Cook them slowly in butter until they’re soft and sweet. Add garlic and cook it for a minute. Take care not to burn the garlic or onions because you can’t get rid of the burnt taste that flavors the whole pot. Plum tomatoes, fresh from the garden, are superior to canned. Drop them into boiling water to release the skins, then discard the skins (they pull off easily with your fingers). Chop the flesh coarsely. It’s fine to leave the seeds in because this isn’t a delicate soup. The remaining vegetables - chunks of zucchini, snipped green beans (get the kids to cut them with kitchen shears), corn, and a tiny pasta - go in next. If you can find alphabet pasta, the kids can spell out their names. Otherwise, use soup flakes, rice-shaped orzo, or baby shells. Ladle the soup into bowls.
4 plum tomatoes
4 ears fresh corn, husked
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, peeled
8 cups water
½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut into
¼-inch pieces
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into
¼-inch pieces
1 cup alphabet pasta or other small pasta such as flakes, orzo, or baby shells
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. With the tip of a small knife, remove the cores from the tomatoes. With a slotted spoon, drop them into the boiling water. Count to 15. Remove the tomatoes from the water and transfer to a colander. Rinse with very cold water.
2. When the tomatoes are cool, use your fingers to peel away the tomato skins. Working over a bowl, use kitchen shears to halve the tomatoes. Snip them into coarse chunks; set aside.
3. Lay an ear of corn on a cutting board. Working from the wide end to the pointed end, remove about 4 rows of kernels. Turn the cob and cut off more kernels, about 4 rows at a time. Continue until the corn kernels are removed from all the ears. Save the corn cobs.
4. In a soup pot, heat the oil and when it is hot, add the onion, carrots, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until the vegetables soften.
5. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring for 3 minutes more.
6. Pour in the water and add the corn cobs. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Use tongs to remove the cobs from the soup.
7. Add the corn, green beans, zucchini, and alphabets. Return the soup to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the alphabets and vegetables are tender. Add more water during cooking if the mixture seems too thick.
8. Taste the soup for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like.