Jun 21, 2011

Summer Soup & Garden Variety Wednesday #8

Welcome to
Garden Variety Wednesday # 8

Link up your recipes & ideas using fresh produce below.


****************************************
The words summer and soup rarely go together in my opinion.  I'm not one to slurp down soup when it's almost 100 degrees.  Maybe that's just me.

But the soup I have today is not a typical soup.  Actually, depending on how you eat it, it could also be a salad.


Whaaa?  Let me explain. 
Using ice cream, of course.

Whaaa, again?


There are people who like to eat their ice cream intact--shaving bites from perfect scoops with their spoons.  And yes, scoops...plural because who eats just one scoop?  Then there are people like me who take those perfect scoops and stir and stir and stir them until their bowls hold what my brothers and I always called "ice cream soup." 


It's how I always eat ice cream.  And this is also how I like to eat the Goat Cheese & Tomato "Soup" below.  You can, however, leave the ingredients in their original form and call it a salad.

Your call.  I know you'll make the right one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I make this with cherry tomatoes.  I HEART cherry tomatoes.  They are so cute and sweet and reliable.  Always the first of my tomato plants to produce.  Always the tough little troopers who keep on crankin' through the heat better than the other tomato plants.  And always the last plants I harvest from.


If you've never grown tomatoes and want to give it a try, my suggestion is to start with cherry tomatoes.
First of the season!
(Back in early May)


There's nothing better than popping cherry tomatoes directly from the plant, slightly warmed by the sun.  That's often my breakfast.  And this is often my lunch...

**********************
I came across a picture recently.  That's The Boy, about 2 1/2 years old.  We'd just come inside from harvesting tomatoes.
Little baby toes are even cuter than cherry tomatoes
This is him now.  Nine years old.  Still helping me with the tomatoes.
We were goofing around outside with the camera. 
It struck me funny that this is such a similar pose to the one above.


And by helping...


I mean eating.

This is really simple, with few ingredients:
A couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes per person, some goat cheese, olive oil, a palmful of chopped green onion, salt, and pepper


Everything in bowls, then zap in the microwave for about 40 seconds (until the goat cheese starts to get melty).

The rest is up to you.  Leave as is and eat as a salad.
Me, I'm gonna stir, stir, stir, and turn it into "soup."


Printer Friendly
Goat Cheese & Tomato "Soup" or Salad

from Ms. enPlace

2 big handfuls of cherry tomatoes per person, halved
goat cheese
a good drizzle of olive oil
a palmful of chopped green onion per person
salt & pepper to taste

Place tomatoes in individual bowls.  Top with goat cheese and green onion.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Heat in the microwave (if desired) for about 40 seconds, until the cheese starts to melt.

Eat as a salad, or stir everything together for a saucy/"soupy" dish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GARDEN VARIETY WEDNESDAY # 8
Ms. enPlace














~ Made a dish with something you nurtured in your garden?
~ Maybe a neighbor stopped by and shared some of his/her harvest?
~ Have baskets of goodies from a pick-your-own farm?
~ Found some treasures at your local farmer's market?

* Please don't forget to link back to Ms. enPlace or grab a button.
* Link your post--not your home page.
* Please, one link per person.
* Since growing seasons differ so much even across the US, old/archived posts are welcome, but please edit with a link back or a button.
* Have fun visiting other blogs!


Garden Variety Wednesday schedule:
July 6 & July 20       
August 10 & August 24




********************************

I'm linking up with the following...head on over!
Food on Friday: Tomatoes @ Carole's Chatter

Tuesdays at the Table @ All The Small Stuff

Hearth and Soul vol 53 @ A Moderate Life

Delectable Tuesday @ Home Sweet Farm

Made it on Monday #15 @ Lark's Country Heart

Let's Do Brunch @ The Life and Times of the 21st Century Housewife
and My Sweet & Savory

Turning the Table Thursday @ Around My Family Table

What's Cooking Thursday @ Feeding Four

Potluck Friday @ EKat's Kitchen

Foodie Friday @ Little Brick Ranch

Fresh Food Friday @ la bella vita

Friday Food @ Mom Trends

Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen

June Salad Round Up @ Seaside Simplicity

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for hosting!..I finally remembered to link up! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely photographs! And your salad/soup looks wonderful. I used to make ice cream soup when I was a kid...I got told off for doing it though, so I stopped. Maybe I should try it again...Thank you for sharing this post with the Hearth and Soul blog hop, and thank you also for hosting Garden Variety Wednesday. I've shared Fresh Vegetable Orzo, one of my favourite side (or main!) dishes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. still waiting for my first of the year tomato. yum! Thanks for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cherry tomatoes are the best and this recipe is over-the-top, cher! Yum, and I can't wait to try it! Great photos, too, and The Boy is just precious! Thanks for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just found your party. What a wonderful recipe you have today. Great pictures. Cannot wait to try it out. I linked a wonderful summer soup. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds wonderful!! Thanks for linking up to my salad round up! I haven't posted anything new in a while so I'm just going to link up the round up, hope that's ok :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Soup and summer definitely doesn;t go together .. but when you crave for it you go for it :) I had soup for dinner tonight !! This is a great recipe and Thanks for sharing this with Hearth and Soul Hop! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. YOU WERE FEATURED IN "let's do brunch" at 21st century housewife!!!

    Very exciting stuff!! Congrats!

    I have green tomatoes....so I'm getting closer...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yum! My grape tomatoe plant broke off this year, but there is another stem growing from it. I love recipes like this! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My cherry tomatoes are coming out of our ears it seems! I plant a lot, simply because we devour a lot of them! Oh so sweet! I've linked up a super fresh blackberry cobbler on your linky! I couldn't find your salad on my foodie hop today....it seems that sometimes Linky Tools has a few glitches (just my opinion!), so if you want, please stop back again to re-add it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So bright and colorful and I am sure it is delicious all mixed up like that. ;-) Thanks for sharing it at Souper Sundays.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cute garden helper :) Love the salad, I'd go with soup, too! Just a zap and there you have it, just delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am making pasta tonight and this would be a fabulous salad. I will let you know if I get to make it.
    Thanks for linking it to Let's Do Brunch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi again, you are being featured, tomorrow. Come on over and take a peek and feel free to bring another delicious recipe. Also, thanks for a great salad, we had for dinner. I had feta cheese so I used that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for linking up everyone!
    Chaya I'll have to try it with feta...sounds good! And thanks for the feature!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Found your recipe on LittleBrickRanch.com - making this soup/salad with dinner tonight!

    And by the way - I like to stir up my ice cream, too... :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. 3 neat links for Food on Friday: tomatoes! Thanks, Michelle. Hope you are having a great week. Cheers

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments.