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It was a beautiful morning for the market. The crowds are learning to respect the opening hour and shopping was a lot easier. Youngest daughter was at a seminar in Chicago and oldest daughter was getting ready to go to NYC to see her first Broadway Show (a birthday present from her boyfriend!) so...I was planning on the trip myself. For years I shopped alone and I was fine. Now I always have company and that is fine too. This week dear husband joined me. He had on his trusty market logo baseball hat. And he pulled my wagon!
Younger daughter, Kate, and I went to the farmer's market early again this week. It used to be that if we got to the market between 8am and 8:30am we were shopping with the bulk buyers. Restaurant owners, me, a few other shoppers who clearly are what are now called locavores. Now...this year...we try to get to the market by 7:55am just to be able to park and it's already crowded. This week we pulled up and parked at 7:55AM. The first thing we did was to return some flower pots to a nice elderly gentleman who sells his son's herbs and flowers.
There is another recipe post on this blog for asparagus done in the oven in a new way. Try it out if you haven't already. It's easy and delicious!
My oldest daughter is dating a nice young man. His name is Dave. Dave lives alone and so, by necessity, has had to learn to cook for himself. He seems to enjoy cooking and cooks for others as well.
Dave is Chinese by birth and cooks a lot of food in his wok. However, he has a neat trick for cooking asparagus.
I waited all winter for NJ Fresh vegetables. And my local farmer's market (Collingswood Farmer's Market) has really come through...as they always do. We had over 70 inches of snow this past winter and a very wet early spring. Because of that many of the fruit and vegetable crops are coming in and leaving earlier.
One of the first fresh vegetables farmer's bring to the market here in New Jersey is fresh asparagus. There are thick and thin varieties. We like both. I used them differently. This week was the last week for asparagus. So, because it was the last week, I bought three bunches. Now, as you no doubt know, asparagus dries out and gets limp. Yuck. Our local supermarkets display fresh asparagus with the bottom stems in water. So, I figured, if they can do it, so can I.
Daughters were going out (which they do a lot lately!) but needed dinner. Husband was hungry from a full day of work. What to do? Needed a quick, nutritious, delicious, low-carb meal for all.
It's been a very snowy winter here. Over forty inches of snow has fallen in the last week. My quest for fresh vegetables gets more and more difficult. I'm actually trying to survive through bulk fruit and vegetable purchases from warehouse clubs. Occasionally I get to a supermarket that is stocked and I buy what looks good and fresh and (always trying!) organic.
We are a house divided by hard boiled eggs. Younger daughter and I love them. Dear husband and older daughter can't stand to be in the same room with them. One of the reasons a lot of people don't like hard boiled eggs is they say they smell awful. Well, what makes hard boiled eggs smell strong is over cooking them. If you have an egg that gives that strong sulfur smell you also have an egg that has a dark green/blue/black line around the yolk when you cut it open. Go ahead. Cut one open. I'll wait.
I've made chicken soup forever. (Except for a few months when pregnant with younger daughter...couldn't do it!). Always with noodles. Always. And what do I have to give up to maintain my low carb existence? NOODLES. There are no noodles in this soup but I promise you won't miss them.
Putting this soup in a pot is simple. The labor intensive part happens at the end, to prepare it for service. I make a big pot of this often and freeze the leftovers (like all the soups I make). I do not buy commercially prepared canned soup. There's no need to.
This is just good soup. It is, as my mother would have said, "good for what ails you" soup. This soup, as a friend of my older daughter said, rocks. This soup was born out of my necessity to not give up my grandmother's chicken soup.
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