I do love soup.

I really do. Even in the heat of summer, nothing else makes you feel warm and cozy inside and out. I also like knowing what I created is healthy and tasty. Today, I threw together a vegetable soup which turned out AWESOME! So- here's the break down (I do have a photo, but I haven't had time to get it uploaded just yet):

1 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Melt the butter and saute the onion and garlic till al dente then add
3 carrots, skinned and sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
Saute till onions are soft, then add
2-3 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1 3/4 qt water
Bring to a boil and simmer for a good half hour till carrots are soft. Then add
1 cup peas
1 cup quinoa
Simmer 7-10 min till quinoa is cooked and translucent. Finally, add
1 Tbsp rosemary (1 sprig)
2Tbsp thyme (3-4 sprigs)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Simmer till fragrant, and serve!

We loved this, so delicious and a very healthy dinner for your family!

Potato Tomato Casserole

I always love main dishes which use many of the fresh produce from my garden. Today I harvested half a gallon of blackberries, about 15 tomatoes and about 15 potatoes, ranging in size from a lentil to a mango. I was happy just to be getting some fresh things out of my garden, especially after a week of being gone to Seattle and leaving the care of my garden in the hands of my well-intentioned but misunderstanding husband. I'll just say the garden needed a good long drink when I got home, but nothing died, so I guess I really can't complain. :D Either way, I froze the blackberries to use for jam later, and still had all those potatoes and tomatoes to use. So, I made a nice veggie dish for dinner tonight, adapting this recipe to my preferences and likes. I created my own tomato sauce from about 4 tomatoes and softened the onions and garlic while simmering the sauce. I also am learning to use freeze-dried peas and so added those to my dish, hoping they would help absorb more of the extra liquid. Worked fairly well. It turned out really nicely! Here's what I did:
2 medium shepody (gold) potatoes and 13 pontiac's (red), most of which were smaller than a walnut, sliced.
10 tomatoes, chopped, 2 tomatoes sliced.
1 med onion, quartered and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen works too)
1 can black beans, drained
shredded cheese, if desired
salt and pepper, if needed
olive oil

I started with 7 chopped tomatoes, and got them simmering over med heat in a medium pot. I added the onions and garlic, and simmered till the onions were soft. Add the peas, and continue simmering till half of the liquid is absorbed. Add the remaining chopped tomatoes and herbs (S&P if needed, we didn't need any). I used olive oil to lubricate this portion a little. Ladle a small amount of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole, then lay out the sliced potatoes in one layer, and 1/3 of the beans on top of that. Then a layer of the tomato sauce, and repeat the layering process twice more. Cover with sliced tomatoes, then shredded cheese if desired. Bake at 375 for 45-50 min till potatoes are cooked through. We loved this!
Disclaimer- I used sliced cheese as my husband kindly forgot to wash dishes while I was a way and thus no shredder was available till after dinner when I had a chance to get to the dirty dishes. :P