Good Neighbour Zucchini Bisque

My neighbour gave me a pint of butter yellow beans plucked from her garden about a half hour ago. I’m ashamed to say this act of generosity brought out my selfish streak as I briefly considered gobbling the entire batch for lunch by myself. Not wanting to create bad bean karma, I decided to wait until dinner and share with Andrew. I think I’ll make our favourite basil and walnut version to reward my patience.

This pint of beans is likely the start of an impromptu exchange program that will last until fall. While Mary grows potatoes, carrots, beans, raspberries and every salad ingredient imaginable, I know I’m incapable of disciplining a backyard farm and have restricted my crop to Things That Grow in Pots. Despite the limitations to their roots, my runner beans have scaled the laundry post and are battling the honeysuckle for supremacy. My basil topples from its container and the rosemary is so full and lush it looks more like a small tree than the Charlie Brown twig I planted a month ago. Even this modest crop should yield plenty to share.

I don’t know how my mother raised kids and crops, yet I remember hauling zucchinis the size of go-carts from the yard more than twenty feet past the garden’s official edge. We grew beans and beets and the even a few stalks of corn one year. Mom would freeze what we couldn’t eat fresh, and throughout the winter would produce quick breads or harvest soups from our autumn excess. She was a smart woman. We were always more willing to eat the veggies we grew ourselves, although for me that willingness stopped at beets.

In honour of the upcoming bumper crops, here’s a classic bisque recipe. It’s quick, simple, versatile and delicious. Given to us by my mom’s cousin, I’m paying things forward to you. Feel free to pass it along with your excess veggies. You never know what you’ll get in return.

Good Neighbour Zucchini Bisque
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs zucchini, grated
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup cream or milk
• 1 tsp dried basil (or 1 tbsp fresh)
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Saute onions in the butter.
2. Add zucchini and chicken stock.
3. Simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Puree with spices and cream or milk until smooth. This can be done in either a blender or with hand blender.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve immediately.

Variations

• Make with yogurt instead of milk for extra zing.
• Make with frozen zucchini.
• Substitute mushrooms or green beans for zucchini.

Share/Bookmark