Green Bean Soup

I am thisclose to finishing the dress. I just need to sew buttons and buttonholes. I had thought I'd finish it over the weekend, but it was not to be. So I have to do that this week so I can wear it a few times before it gets too cold.

I did make some (food-type) stuff this weekend, but I didn't take any photos. However, I do have photos of the soup I made two weekends ago, so that's what you get today!

This green bean soup recipe came from my sister-in-law and is only slightly modified. It is great because it is both really good and really easy. I love how pureeing it means I don't have to chop up lots of vegetables. I hate chopping up lots of vegetables.

Plus, it freezes well, so I like to make a double batch and freeze half of it. Freeze it without the sour cream and lemon juice; add that in after you reheat it. If you freeze it, do not be alarmed by its weird, lumpy appearance as it thaws. It will be okay! Just whisk it well as you heat it and it will all come back together and be just as great as it is when you don't freeze it. I promise.

I also made bread, ciabatta from the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. We really like this bread for eating with soup. It tastes good and has a nice, chewy crust. But for some reason my loaves don't rise up, they rise out. And I end up with an extra-flat, crazily wide loaf. Oh well. It makes two loaves, so I freeze one to use with the frozen batch of soup. Perfect.


Green Bean Soup
about 4 bowls

Ingredients
3 cups vegetable stock
1 10-ounce (or thereabouts) package of frozen green beans
2 small potatoes, quartered (I leave the peel on, because why bother?)
1/2 onion, quartered
1/4 cup butter
2 to 3 teaspoons of dried dill (of course, you can use fresh if you've got it)
2 large cloves garlic, smushed with the broad side of a chef's knife
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup light sour cream
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions
Combine first seven ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour soup into a blender and puree until smooth (do this in batches so you don't erupt soup all over your kitchen counter like I did last time I made this). Return to saucepan. Reheat over low heat and stir in sour cream and lemon juice.