Table Talk

On Saturday evening we enjoyed dinner outside on our screened porch with friends.   Yesterday, a cold front moved in and dropped the temperature 20 degrees! It was our daughter’s grade 4-6 lacrosse play off game, and we were bundled up cheering from the sidelines. With a victorious finish and championship t-shirt in hand, we headed home with a few hours until dinner. We were all a bit chilled from sitting outside in the drizzle and wanted something to warm us up…soup would do the trick! I had a bunch of veggies in the fridge, so we fired up the grill and I made Grilled Vegetable Soup.   Grilling the vegetables adds an amazing amount of flavor and depth.  Warm crusty bread perfect for dunking, helped us forget all about   feeling chilled.

The summers here in Virginia are incredibly hot…those days will be here before we know it, so having a chilly day now and then until the  heat sets in is just fine with me.

Grilled Vegetable Soup

For grilled vegetables:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly  ground pepper
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
2 Japanese eggplant, ends trimmed, sliced in half lengthwise
1 large Portobello mushroom
1 red bell pepper, halved, seeded
1 yellow bell pepper, halved, seeded

Whisk olive oil and next 3 ingredients together in a 1 cup measuring glass. Place vegetables in a large zip-bag and pour  marinade over vegetables; seal bag and marinate 30 minutes at room temperature.
Heat grill to medium high heat; add vegetables to grill and cook until vegetables are charred and softened, turning halfway through cooking time: 5 minutes for asparagus, 8 minutes for mushroom and peppers, 10 minutes for eggplant. Transfer vegetables to cutting board and cut into 2-inch pieces; set aside.

For Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped Vidalia onion
2 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can whole Plum tomatoes (I like San Marzano brand), chopped
3 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
8 cups vegetable broth
2 (14.5 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained
Grilled vegetables
Salt and Freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in stock pot; add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic and salt, cooking until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, rosemary, vegetable broth, and garbanzo beans and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add reserved grilled vegetables and stir to combine; cooking until grilled vegetables are heated through , about 5 minutes . Adjust seasonings with salt and freshly ground pepper.

4 servings