A Summer Zucchini Soup I Have Loved: Zucchini & Goat Cheese Soup with Basil & Lemon for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was totally going to make soup this week but I got busty on work things and it didn't happen. Since I have friends in the Souper Sundays kitchen, I am going to repost a favorite soup from 2014 instead to lead the roundup.

This Zucchini and Goat Cheese Soup with Basil and Lemon started with me wanting to "soup" up a Nigel Slater zucchini toast recipe, morphed into a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall soup recipe. I really need to make both the toast and the soup again. 

What I said: 

Sometimes, when I eat something that tastes really good, I stop and think, 'can I soup that?' Can I take that combination of flavors that really appeals to me and turn it into a bowl of soup?  Nigel Slater's Zucchini with Basil and Goat Cheese on Toast, a dish I posted earlier in the week, is one of those flavor combos--everything that's good about summer in a bite. I thought it would make a great-tasting soup so I decided to explore and see if anyone else thought so. I found several different variations of zucchini soups with goat cheese online but ended up falling for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Courgette and Goat's Cheese Soup with Basil from the Guardian. I liked its brothy, yet creamy appeal and since it had much of what I was looking for to 'soup' this dish, I just slightly adapted it by adding in lemon juice and zest and topping it with crispy toasted croutons. Exactly what I was craving and with the same great taste of the zucchini toasts--this dish can definitely be successfully 'souped'

The Recipe (with my adaptations):

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Soup with Basil & Lemon 
Adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall via TheGuardian.com  
(Serves 4)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1kg (2.25 lbs) very firm small courgettes, sliced 3-4mm thick
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
About 750ml (about 3.25 cups) whole milk (or use half milk, half veg stock)
1-2 bay leaves
100g (3.5 oz) rindless mild goat's cheese
Basil leaves (or mint, if you prefer)
(I added the zest and 2 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon)
(I added pan-toasted croutons) 

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the courgettes and, once they're sizzling nicely but before they start to brown, turn down the heat, season with a little salt (it helps draw out the moisture) and cook gently, stirring often. As they become tender, break them down a little until they have softened almost to the point of mushiness; this can take up to half an hour. Add the garlic when the courgettes are almost done, so it gets a chance to cook but not burn. You should end up with a fragrant, garlicky, rough courgette puree. (I added the lemon zest and juice at this point.) Leave it coarse like this, or blitz in a food processor if you prefer a less chunky soup.

While the courgettes are cooking, put the milk in a pan with the bay leaves. Bring up to just below boiling, then leave to infuse.

Stir the cheese into the courgette mixture, then strain in the hot milk a little at a time and stirring all the while, until the soup is a consistency you like (I like mine fairly thick). Bring the soup scarcely to boiling point, season and ladle into warmed bowls. Top with a good trickle of extra-virgin rapeseed or olive oil, and a few shredded basil leaves (and grilled croutons and additional crumbled goat cheese if desired).

My Notes/Results: 

Rich and decadent without being too heavy, this is a wonderful bowl of soup with great flavors. I did use half milk, half veggie stock in mine and thickened it by pureeing a couple of cups of the zucchini mixture and stirring it back in. The added lemon juice and zest brighten things up and the grilled croutons add a crisp contrast. In addition to the goat cheese blended into the soup, I crumbled a bit more on top with the shredded basil. One of my favorite zucchini soups so far--I would make this again. 

Now let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week.

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared two soups this week: The first she says, "Shepherd's Pie Stew made with gnocchi instead of potatoes for dinners and a lunch. ... I used ground chicken but you could use any protein including the Beyond Beef crumbles to make it vegetarian."

And the second: Vegetarian Lentil and Red Bean Soup over sticky rice. ... "Great filling lunch."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog brought The Quickest Red Lentil Soup Ever, saying "It looks like an exotic feast, but it was one of the quickest and easiest soups I ever made. We were hungry, it was late, and I had nothing prepared for dinner except some plain rice. I decided to make my quickest easiest no prep soup ever which is healthy, delicious and also extremely frugal." 

Thanks to Judee and Tina for joining me this week! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.
• Although we are pretty wide on what defines a soup, sandwich or salad, entries that are clearly not in the same family (ie: desserts, meats, random main or side dishes that aren't salads, etc.) are meant for another round up and will be deleted. 

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Olive Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery for "The Show Girl" by Nicola Harrison {#TheShowGirlParty}

Once again, I am very happy and excited to be joining The Book Club Cookbook, St. Martin's Press and a group of fellow bloggers to celebrate the publishing of The Show Girl by Nicola Harrison. For #TheShowGirlParty, we received copies of the book and were tasked with coming up with a dish inspired by it.  

Publisher's Blurb:

Nicola Harrison's The Show Girl gives a glimpse of the glamorous world of the Ziegfeld Follies, through the eyes of a young midwestern woman who comes to New York City to find her destiny as a Ziegfeld Follies star. 

It's 1927 when Olive McCormick moves from Minneapolis to New York City determined to become a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. Extremely talented as a singer and dancer, it takes every bit of perseverance to finally make it on stage. And once she does, all the glamour and excitement is everything she imagined and more—even worth all the sacrifices she has had to make along the way.

Then she meets Archie Carmichael. Handsome, wealthy—the only man she's ever met who seems to accept her modern ways—her independent nature and passion for success. But once she accepts his proposal of marriage he starts to change his tune, and Olive must decide if she is willing to reveal a devastating secret and sacrifice the life she loves for the man she loves.

St. Martin's Publishing Group

On Sale: 08/10/2021

ISBN: 9781250200167

400 Pages

My Review:

Historical fiction is one of my top genres although I tend to prefer WWII historical fiction to the Roaring Twenties. Lately though I have been broadening my history horizon and I just finished a non-fiction book about the Barbizon Hotel that put me in the frame of mind for another NYC set book about a young "modern" woman making her way in the city. I didn't know a lot about the Ziegfeld Follies and the famous Ziegfeld Girls, other than what I had seen in movies, so The Show Girl was a new experience. 

Olive McCormick is a young girl from Minnesota, making her way through the theater world with big dreams to be a star in New York. A chance meeting with Florenz Ziegfeld when she is doing a roadshow has her showing up at his theater and offices when she reaches the city, expecting to be put in the show. It doesn't go that smoothly for Olive (now "Olive Shine" as a stage name) but despite her disapproving parents,soon she has worked her way to the Follies and a gig as the featured performer in the Midnight Frolic (the late-night racier show). She meets Archie Carmichael, a wealthy businessman and falls in love, but secrets and bad choices put her stardom and happiness at risk. 

The glimpses into the show girl life and Olive's world where really interesting. For all the modernizing of the 1920s, singers, dancer, show girls, and theater performers were still considered lower class and to have loose morals so life wasn't all glamour, it was a lot of hard work and dedication. I had to keep reminding myself how young Olive was (nineteen when the book starts) because her decisions and actions really frustrated me at times. I wanted her to succeed but also wanted her to care about others and the effects her choices had on them. The end wrapped up a bit quickly and a little too neatly for me, but I enjoyed the settings especially NYC and The Pines (an Adirondacks camp/retreat) that Olive goes to perform at and where she and Archie spend time together. I have always been fascinated by the camps and hotels of this area and that was fun. The retro food, drinks, hairstyles and fashion of the times were engaging too, and I liked the way the fictional characters and events were woven in with the real people and happenings of the times. Overall, The Show Girl was an informative and enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more from the author. 

-----

Author Notes: Born in England, Nicola Harrison moved to CA where she received a BA in Literature at UCLA before moving to NYC and earning an MFA in creative writing at Stony Brook. She is a member of The Writers Room, has short stories published in The Southampton Review and Glimmer Train and articles in Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast Magazine. She was the fashion and style staff writer for Forbes, had a weekly column at Lucky Magazine and is the founder of a personal styling business, Harrison Style.

You can connect with Nicola on her website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

-----

Food Inspiration:

There was a surprising lot of food in The Show Girl--Olive liked to eat and drink. Mentions included a Brown Derby restaurant dinner of chopped chicken livers, spaghetti and a Derby plate of crabs' legs, celery, avocado and Thousand Island dressing, and ice cream and sherbets for dessert, Coca-Cola, whiskey, gin fizz, rum, fried eggs with runny yolks, broth and cucumbers, sponge cake, lamb and pork chops, an act called the "The Follies Salad" (Olive was "Spicy"), cheese sandwiches, lobster, lasagna, Peach melba, shrimp cocktail, oysters, a Sardi's meal of Duchess Soup (a creamy vegetable soup), a pork chop with potatoes and French fried onions and. a sirloin steak and Waldorf salad, coffee and biscotti, champagne mimosas, wine and chocolates, a main course of sweetbreads, mushrooms and green lima beans, brandy, a "cherry on top" (Olive's drink of two parts champagne, one part gin, one part orange juice, a dash of grapefruit and a trickle of cherry brandy), cold tomato juice and Palin toast, a weekly meal rotation that included baked ham with carrots and peas on Mondays, lamb chops and mashed potatoes on Tuesdays, leftover baked ham sandwiches and apple jelly on Wednesdays, and broiled veal cutlets and fried tomatoes on Thursdays, miniature hors d'oeuvres of stuffed mushrooms, salmon mousse on toasted bread, olives and oysters, molded individual Jello salads with slices of tomato, cucumber, celery and green pepper, omelets, a maple Bee's Knees cocktail, hot cocoa, coffee, oranges, boiled egg and bread, lemon cake, and corned beef, carrots and cabbage. 

For my bookish dish, I found the Duchess Soup intriguing of course, and I thought about an egg sandwich with a spinach "frill" as Olive said she didn't want to be thought of only as a "biscuit in a frilly dress." The Brown Derby's crab's legs with avocado, celery and Thousand Island dressing called to me, as did their Peach Melba. But ultimately it was Olive meeting her mother for tea at The Plaza Hotel that was my inspiration. Olive, trying to impress her mother, orders anchovy canapés, stuffed celery to start, and offers up the cassoulet of lobster to her mother who wants "just tea." The stuffed celery pulled my attention as my mom used to make a cream-cheese stuffed celery appetizer when I was growing up, and I wanted to make a verson. When I Googled "1920s stuffed celery appetizers," many recipes came up, some with olives in the cream cheese mix. So, there you have it--Olive Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery for Olive Shine, The Show Girl. 

I looked at several different recipes online but ended up doing my own thing.

Olive Cream Cheese Stuffed Celery

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 1.5 Cups)

1 (8 oz) container of whipped cream cheese, brought to room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chopped pitted mixed olives of choice (I used an Italian mix with pimento added)

1/4 cup cornichons or small pickles, finely chopped1/2 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (for a little spice) 

cornichons or small pickles, finely chopped

1 Tbsp lemon juice

sea salt and black pepper to taste

celery stalks, cut into thirds

dill or chives and sweet paprika to garnish

Gently mix softened whipped cream cheese, sour cream, olives, cornichons,  spices and lemon juice together until blended. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Chill 1-2 hours to firm up and allow ingredient flavors to meld.

Use a pastry bag with a tip, or a plastic bag with a piping hole cut out, or a small spoon to fill the celery sections. Serve immediately or chill, covered for another hour or two.

Notes/Results: OK, first don't be lazy and not cut up your olives and cornichons finely so they will fit through a piping tip (I was and mine did not). But looks aside, these are tasty little bites of crunch, creaminess and briny goodness. My mom's didn't have olives and was mostly cream cheese and spices prettily piped into the celery but these brought me right back. I think the mix will also be great on toast. I would happily make them again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event  being hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post. 

Check out this link for the #TheShowGirlParty at The Book Club Cookbook to see the other bloggers taking part in this event and their delicious recipes!

Mahalo to St. Martin's Press (@stmartinspress) and The Book Club Cookbook for the review copies of the book, and for hosting this fun event. I received no compensation for my participation and, as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

Find The Book Club Cookbook here: 

Facebook: TheBookClubCookbook

Twitter: @bookclubcookboo

Instagram: @thebookclubcookbook

Pinterest: @bookclubcook

 

Revisiting a Pickle Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

So yeah, I was going to make a chilled cucumber soup this week that literally is just the easy steps of chopping/blending/chilling, and I got caught up in one of my book clubs this morning. Then I had a headache. Basically, I was just lazy again. I was going to do a round up of soups but I was thinking about the great love for pickle-flavored things lately (not just me it seems) and thought about this Pickle Soup I made a few years ago.

It was from one of my soup "bibles," Love Soup by Anna Thomas. I made it for Mother's Day in 2016, when I was missing my mom, the year after losing her, So the original post is a bit of a downer but the soup was really delicious--and I know my mom would have enjoyed it too.

Here's what I wrote:

When I went to the tabbed recipe, I took a moment to read the story behind it, something I had forgotten about, and realized that the author made this soup for her own mother when she was old and in failing health to tempt her appetite because it was "full of the flavors of her Polish kitchen." The connection between that mother and daughter seemed another reason that this soup called to be made this weekend. I think my mom would have enjoyed it--she was a great fan of barley soups and although not the dill and pickle fanatic that I am, she enjoyed the flavors and as Thomas points out, "...the pickles are one small part of this soup. They melt into the whole, and if you weren't told about them, you wouldn't necessarily know--you'd just love the tangy, dilly flavor of this great soup." 

And the recipe:

Pickle Soup
Adapted from Love Soup by Anna Thomas
(Makes 10 Servings)

1/2 cup pearl barley (I used 1 cup quick-cooking pearl barley)

1 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup chopped leeks, white & light green parts (I used 2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz portobello, cremini, or other brown mushrooms, chopped
thyme
8 oz Yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 medium turnip, peeled and diced
1/2 bunch green chard (I used about 3 cups baby spinach)
1 wedge savoy cabbage (I used 1/2 head green cabbage)
1 medium red bell pepper, cored and diced or large roasted pimento from a jar
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used fresh tarragon)
3 cups good vegetable broth (I used 4 cups + 4 cups water)
1 cup finely diced dill pickles, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper 
optional garnishes: (vegan) sour cream, yogurt cheese, or farmer cheese 

Rinse the barley, put it in a large soup pot with 8 cups (2 liters) water and 1 teaspoon salt, and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and add the chopped onion. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the chopped leeks and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, or until the onion and leeks are soft and beginning to color.

In another skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and stir the garlic in it over high heat for about a minute. Add the mushrooms, a dash of salt, and a pinch of thyme and sauté the mushrooms until their excess liquid cooks away and they are sizzling, about 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and turnip to the barley, along with another half a teaspoon of salt. You can add a cup or two of water if it is needed to keep everything submerged. Bring the liquid back to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 more minutes.

While the root vegetables are cooking, wash the chard, remove the tough stems, and chop the leaves coarsely. Shred the wedge of cabbage into 1/2-inch strips. Add the sautéed onion and leeks and the sautéed mushrooms to the soup, deglazing the pans with a bit of water. Stir in the chard, cabbage, bell pepper, dill, parsley, and vegetable broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the finely diced pickles and simmer for 10 minutes more.

My method: I used the soup pot to sauté my onions and leeks, then my carrot and celeryuntil softened, then I added my broth, turnip and potatoes and simmered it for about 10minutes. Meanwhile, I sautéd my garlic, thyme and mushroom in a separate pan as directed and set aside. I then added my 10-minute barley, red pepper, cabbage, spinach, dill, tarragon and the mushrooms (deglazing the pan) to the soup and cooked it for 10 minutes. Finally, I added in the dill pickles and simmered the soup for 10 more minutes before tasting and adjusting the seasoning.  

Taste the soup, and adjust the seasoning with more salt and some freshly ground pepper. The pickles become milder over time, releasing their acidity into the soup as they cook; your soup will have a more subtle flavor after it simmers a little longer. 

Thomas says, "This is an old-fashioned soup, and tastes great with a spoonful of sour cream or yogurt cheese, or plain white farmer cheese. ... You'll have a big pot of soup--enough for about 10 meal-sized servings. I like to freeze it for another time."  

What I said about the flavor and how it turned out:

Notes/Results: This soup is a homey, nicely balanced bowl of great flavors and textures. The pickles mellow as the soup sits and cooks so it isn't like you are biting into a sour dill pickle, but it gives the soup a lovely acidity. The dill is prominent but the thyme and the small amount of tarragon I added are there too, adding to the layers. I put in extra barley and of course it absorbs liquid readily, so that with all of the veggies it has a definite stew-like feel. The veggies are a good mix too with the sweeter carrots and red pepper, slightly pungentturnip and cabbage, the earthiness of the mushrooms and the buttery goodness of the Yukon gold potatoes. I had some vegan sour cream in the fridge and I liked the way it added creaminess to the soup when stirred into it. Thomas suggests serving it with pumpernickel or rye bread but I had some dill pickle Kettle Chips that I thought were fun, slightly crushed and sprinkled on top. It's a good thing I like this soup because it makes a lot, so I intend to try freezing some for later. I would make it again.  

-----

Perhaps I will make it again one of these days or find another pickle soup recipe to try. Next week, I'll try to be back with a new soup. Until then, let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week.

Judee of Gluten Free A - Z Blog shared this Exotic Fruit Salad Platter, made for a birthday celebration for her son who avoids inflammatory foods, saying "The exotic fruit salad platter included: Dragon fruit, papaya, kiwi, guava, mango, strawberries, and star fruit. His candles were placed in a banana. Everyone enjoyed a healthy celebration made with fruit salad instead of cake!!"

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brings Smash Burgers, accompanied by hash browns, saying, "Hash browns can be a nice part of breakfast or a side with a grilled sandwich. There are quite a few varieties available at the market if you don't feel like using a potato ricer or shredding your own potatoes with a grater. ... We've had hash browns with breakfast as well as lunch with burgers. Not in the same day 😗The grill press was also used on ground beef to make smash burgers."

Shaheen from Allotment2Kitchen shared her Chargrilled Courgette Quiche with a Side Salad of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Onions, saying. "It was handy making this Chargrilled quiche in advance, as last week it was extremely hot and this made for buffet style lunch and dinner. I am also taking the opportunity to share this slice of quiche with a simple side salad of cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion with  Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen."  

Thanks to Judee, Tina, and Shaheen for joining me this week! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.
• Although we are pretty wide on what defines a soup, sandwich or salad, entries that are clearly not in the same family (ie: desserts, meats, random main or side dishes that aren't salads, etc.) are meant for another round up and will be deleted. 

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Simple Vegan Curry and Rice Soup with Tofu and Chickpeas: One-Pot Meal for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I had a craving for creamy korma-style Indian curry and rice so I decided to make it into a soup this week to make a one-pot meal, and to use up some leftover veggies, herbs and pantry ingredients. 

I used non-chicken stock and coconut milk with chickpeas and tofu as proteins to make this a vegan soup. You I wanted mild and creamy but you can adjust your curry and spices for some kick. You could also leave out the rice and serve it separately, but sometimes I just want it easy and involving as few pans as possible. 

Chickpea Curry and Rice Soup

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes About 6 Servings)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 cup korma curry paste

2 tsp Garam Masala

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained

4 cups vegetable or non-chicken stock

1 cup Jasmine or Basmati rice

16-oz package extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed and cut into 3/4" pieces

1 cup frozen green peas

1 can (15-oz) coconut milk

sea salt and black pepper

juice of 1 lime, optional

chopped cilantro or Thai basil to garnish

naan bread to serve

In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot heat the oil over medium and add the onion, carrot, and red pepper. Sauce about 6-7 minutes, until vegetables soften and onion translucent. Add garlic, ginger, curry paste and garam masala and cook about 2 more minutes. add the chickpeas and stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, then bring back to a slow boil and add rice. Reduce heat slightly and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is mostly cooked. Add tofu and peas and stir in coconut milk, return to a simmer and cook another 10 minutes until vegetables and rice are cooked  and tofu is warmed through. Taste and add sea salt, black pepper and lime juice if using. 

Serve, garnished with cilantro or Thai basil and serve with grilled naan bread. Enjoy!

Notes/Results: Exactly what I wanted, creamy, flavorful, rich and satisfying. It also was very easy to toss together, which makes it even better. the soft chewy naan that I toasted/grilled on a rack in my toaster oven, was perfect for dipping. ZZThis swill make for great lunches this week. I will happily make it again. 

Let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week. 

Debra of Eliot's Eats shared the Potato Sandwiches with Pepperoni and Basil she made for Cook the Books, saying, "I knew I wanted to make something with potatoes and I recently came across a recipe for Potato, Chorizo, and Egg Sandwiches. Since the immigrants were fascinated by sandwiches upon their arrival, I decided to modify this recipe just a bit. ... The original recipe calls for Yukon gold potatoes, but I used plain old russet potatoes. I figured that was probably what was available to the book’s families. So here you go—my composite homage to all that lived at 97 Orchard.  Even though Ziegelman didn’t mention a lot of potatoes in the Italian section of the book, I tried to include them here with the peppers, pepperonis, and basil."

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared Caesar Salad saying, "We have had some good luck with movies lately and had a pizza night to watch one of them. A salad of romaine with fresh parmesan, tomatoes, toasted bread crumbs and a creamy dressing was a good accompaniment. ... The pizza is from a locally owned restaurant called Solle’s and we like supporting local businesses. The salad we tossed together from fridge ingredients."

Radha of The Magical Ingredients for a Wholesome Life from the Heart of My Home brought a Caprese Salad, saying, "This salad can be made in no time. Very simple and easy. Ingredients are fresh and simple and the recipe is simple too! The fresh tomatoes and basil of the summer gives wonderful flavor. Though this can be had any time of the year, the season's produce always has the peak flavor enhancing the flavor profile of the meal. All you need to do is stack the slices and sprinkle salt and pepper, drizzle a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That easy." 

Simona of briciole shared Kohlrabi Slaw with Fresh Fruit and says, "Kohlrabi and carrot go well together. The original recipe for this slaw was kindly shared with me by Kelsey Perone of Rain Frog Farm located near Blue Lake, CA (details in an article I wrote for the North Coast Journal1). The recipe includes raisins (uvetta) and I have also prepared it with dried cherries. The version I am sharing here uses fresh fruit instead."

Thanks to Debra, Tina, Radha, and Simona for joining me this week! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.
• Although we are pretty wide on what defines a soup, sandwich or salad, entries that are clearly not in the same family (ie: desserts, meats, random main or side dishes that aren't salads, etc.) are meant for another round up and will be deleted. 

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

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