Zucchini or Yellow Squash Soup

"The trouble is, you cannot grow just one zucchini.  Minutes after you plant a single seed, hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden, menacing the other vegetables.  At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake as more and more zucchinis erupt."  --  Dave Barry

This is my mother's recipe, and the one Joanna Chau used in the Naples Daily News & Collier Citizen. So simple and so delicious!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2-3 large yellow squashes or zucchini
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 - 1 teaspoon pink sea salt
2-3 cups hot water

Directions:

1. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a small pot.
2. Wash and scrub vegetables.
3. Cut into chunks.
4. Add squash and peeled garlic to boiling water. Boil 5 minutes until just tender. 
5. Carefully put vegetables into a blender, add some boiling water to blend. Use a cloth over the blender top to prevent hot soup from splattering!
6. Cover and blend until smooth. 
7. Add more hot water if needed. Stir to make soup.
8. Salt to taste.

You may garnish with lemon juice, but it's best plain. Other garnish options are hot pepper shreds, sprouts (pea shoots or sunflower sprouts are especially nice), or a few drops extra virgin olive oil.

NYC conf BONUS tip: I learned a new thing about the chemistry of how green foods best benefit us from Joel Fuhrman. He says if we blend the green foods before we cook them, a beneficial chemical reaction occurs that can't happen once the food has been heated. He suggested heating after blending... I haven't tried it yet.

It seems like it would be an easy adjustment. Let me know how it goes if you try it!

"What was your favorite thing about class?"
"Well, I loved the sweet vegetables, but I didn't taste the soup because I don't really like zucchini."
"But you heard everyone, it doesn't taste like zucchini. Just have a tiny lick of it."
"Is this what you do? You just get people to try stuff?"
"I don't know, but you have to just, here, here's the spoon."
"Oh my! That doesn't taste like zucchini!"
"Do you want a bowl of it?"
"Yes."

A snippet, more or less, of my favorite part of the conversation after Simply Vegetables with Joanna Chau of the Naples Daily News. Joanna finished the bowl, and published the recipe.