Provencal White Bean Salad

Eric made this for us on a visit and I just had to have the recipe.

• 2 cups dried small white beans
• 6 cups of water
• 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbs dijon style mustard (do not sub french mustard - tried this and it reminded me of hotdogs)
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 small bunch green onions, tops only, very thinly sliced
• 1 cup black olives, pitted and halved
• salt & pepper
• grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• handful of parsley or spinach and a few sprigs of rosemary 
• 1 lemon, juice & zest

Rinse & put beans and water in crock pot on high for 4 hours until beans are tender. Pour them into a colander and drain. We rinsed them as well since they were a bit over done.

Add olives, onions, herbs & tomatoes to beans in a large bowl.

Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, lemon and garlic. I also added herbs to marinade, but may not do this next time. 

Pour marinade over beans, season with salt & pepper & toss.

Refrigerate overnight.

You can mixed this with chopped salad greens or spinach to serve.

Summer Squash Soup

This recipe was derived from a recipe by Faith Durand.

I initially made this with yellow squash, all thought the original recipe was for zucchini.

This makes 1 1/2 quarts - appetizers for 4 or  dinner for 2

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 8 to 9 large cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 4 medium squash, about 1 1/2 pounds
• 4 cups water
• 1 cube Rapunzel veggie boullion
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
• Salt and pepper
• yogurt
• chopped mint leaves

Melt the butter in a heavy 4-quart stock pot over medium heat. When it foams, add the sliced garlic and onions and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Keep the heat low enough that the garlic doesn't brown; you want everything to sweat.

When the onions are soft, add the squash and cook until soft. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer at a low heat for about 45 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then blend. 

Taste and season with ginger, salt and pepper. When serving, top with a dollop of yogurt and sprinkle with finely chopped mint leaves

Unike most soups, this is not significantly better after a night in the refrigerator. The flavors meld, but IMHO the soup was slightly better fresh.