Golden Summer Squash & Corn Soup.... and then some.

My refrigerator is bursting with fresh, yellow produce.  Seeing so much of this color in my life makes me think of how I ignited my solar plexus chakra (energy center) starting this blog project.  The third chakra is the seat of the fire within, and has an upward, consuming movement like flames.  It supports us in overcoming inertia, taking risks, asserting our will and assuming responsibility for our lives.   The Manipura ("lustrous gem") Chakra is the place of our deep belly laughter, warmth, ease and vitality.  It's element is fire, which I lovingly used to temper and meld the beautiful flavors of my enchanting yellow food.

Tuesday, I made Summer Squash and Corn Soup.  I used some of the chicken stock I made from the bones of my Citrus and Thyme Chicken the other week, and more thyme from my little container garden .

Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Mint and Chives this year.

That chicken made a  lot of stock!  I love having it on hand.  Who needs a carton from the store, when I have this - and I know what's in it!!

Shallots and Squash

   

Add stock

I loved the creamy texture of the pureed shallot and squash mixture and how it played so nicely against the crunchy corn kernels that are left whole.  I tasted my soup as I went, and was ready to be a little disappointed, thinking all the while of how I might improve on it.  Then I garnished it with thyme and added the feta.  Oh. My.  The cheese melted in the center of my bowl, making each bite a little creamy, and that fabulous tang married the sweet, homey corn and squash flavor that I feared might not make anything of itself, and took it to the place on my tongue that makes me close my eyes, it's so good.  It was especially good because it was unexpected.  I love that part the most.  The thyme brought a bright note, and I hardly noticed the few bites where I wished I had been a little more patient separating the tiny leaves from their little stems.  Those little stems go a long way.  I will take the time next time for the thyme.  I loved this soup so much, I planned on having it for dinner that very same night. 

  

SOUP!!

A while later, I noticed a warm, cornbread sort of aroma wafting in from the kitchen.  It was then that I realized that, like every time I try to toast nuts (especially pine nuts, for some reason), I had left the burner on and walked away from my pot.  My delicious soup was now.... reduced. More of a ragu than a soup.  Grateful it was not scorched, burned or otherwise ruined, I decided that "ragu" was how I was going to eat it next.  What the heck.  

I could have thawed more chicken stock.  I could have added plain old water and made it back in to soup.  I could have thrown it out.  But I had seen Michael Chiarello use quinoa pasta the previous week on Top Chef Masters, and had found some at the grocery store that day.  I'd never heard of it before, let alone see it on my grocer's shelf, and I was curious.  It got my risk-taking, creative fire going.  And it's really yellow.  It must have spoken to me on a few levels.  I brought it home that day, and in the moment I saw my concentrated yellow soup, I knew it's fate. 

PS - Quinoa pasta is really really good.  You should try it.  It has a great texture, a bright color, and it goes really well with Golden Summer Squash and Corn Soup...Ragu.