Taxman!

Talk about a perfect evening! Came home and realized that my final quiz in Logic is over and done with, thanks to my completing it during my lunchbreak at work today. So I had time...to cook!

I searched through my new cookbooks for inspiration, and near the beginning of my Encyclopedia of Soups I found the perfect thing: Green Bean & Parmesan Soup.

And OH MY, was it ever amazing! So amazing, in fact, that I HAVE to share.

(The recipe below is DOUBLED from the one in the book, because the book assumes that you'll be serving this as an appetizer, I guess. The amount my version makes served 3 people, including a hungry Dad, quite wonderfully with none to spare.)

GREEN BEAN & PARMESAN SOUP
(Adapted and altered from "The Cook's Encyclopedia of Soup", edited by Debra Mayhew)

You'll need:
3 tbs butter
2 cans of whole green beans (drained)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 qt vegetable stock (MUST be GOOD veggie stock...don't even THINK of substitution)
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup light cream
salt and black pepper
fresh parsley for garnish

Hokay, this soup is VERY simple. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-medium high heat. Add the garlic and swirl it around, then add the green beans and cook for about 3 minutes. Make sure the beans are coated in buttery garlic goodness.

Stir in the stock and season with salt and pepper. (And by the way, the reason I harp on the stock is because the veggie stock is where most of your flavor dimension will come from. Please invest in a good quality stock.) Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer without a lid for 15 minutes. You want to the beans to be nice and tender.

Either transfer the soup to a blender OR get a hand-blender (this is what I did) and puree the soup until smooth. Return it to the pan and bring the heat back up gradually.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and cream. Sprinkle with parsley before serving. Serve piping hot with toasted French bread and fresh salad for a light but filling meal!

Seriously, this soup is a bowl of green goodness. And so easy!

But also, to go with this delightful meal, a delightful movie: Stranger Than Fiction, an all-time favorite.

Ahhh, this is the life!

I also wrote another short story last night, immediately after my anti-social post on this here blog. The story is called "The Courtship of the Blue-Eyed Widow". Intrigued?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go drool over the $100 refurbished rotary-phones I just discovered on Anthropologie's website. Wish me luck...

-The GLS