fresh, end of summer, soup

1 big, BIG green zucchini
1 beefsteak tomato
half of a walla walla sweet onion
4 small red potatoes
2 yukon gold potatoes
(all previous are chopped/diced)
7 ears of corn

spices:
ground 4-color pepper
ground ancho pepper
ground red pepper
sea salt (any kind, i used 3 types)
thyme

boil corn (after shucking) 10 minutes - add corn to 4 cups boiling water
pull corn out with tongs
to water, carefully add potatoes first - let return to boil, and boil for 10 minutes
add all other ingredients

spices are most easily added to chopped/diced veggies first, then all into the pot. if you try to shake out spices directly above a boiling pot, or even steaming pot, your spices gather moisture and congeal around the lip of the container.

simmer another 20-30 minutes and serve with tortilla chip strips

always better the 2nd (and 3rd) time

mmm ... food

my husband and i love to eat. more importantly, we love to cook. recently i've started cooking "comfort food" that reminds me a lot of my grandma (dad's mom)

like cabbage, she made that often. i made it my own with tomato, bell pepper, onion, and cumin & red pepper. dad's side of the family didn't really use spices other than salt & pepper. didn't really need to when grandma grew most of the veggies that we ate


the cabbage concoction i made tonight was a lot like husband's family's "caldo" - soup. we just have to eat more of the cabbage, then add more chicken stock and some meat, and we'll have soup. i like making food that can be turned into 3-4 meals. especially when it's cheap food like cabbage!