On a Taste Tangent

I just ate some of last night’s Raw Minestrone, and as I put the container of tasty but not awesome leftovers back in to he fridge, I was contemplating what I could do to edge my recipe towards perfection. Now even as I think about it now, I am amused by my logic, or rather, the absence thereof, in the mere statement: Edge towards perfection… Huh?
The flowers are perfect. The trees are perfect. Grandmother Earth is perfect. The moon and stars are perfect. The sea is perfect. Giant wrecked ships made of metal forged by the [idol] hands of man disintegrate under her flow of salty fluid, swallowed up and digested by the mysterious abyss, forgotten deep underneath what connects all living things.
Water. That is perfection.
Perhaps the next time I create a new recipe, I will strive for a greatness, or even a goodness, if only to satisfy my egotistical character. I can aim to be satisfied with the process of both trial and error. Maybe. I am human after all… Faulted and fragile at times.
Yet I am humbled by the greatness of beauty supplied by Mother Nature all around me. Cutting through the city-sounds are the birds’ operatic arias, the cherished bubbles of laughter as the pre-school kids toddle hand-in-hand on their daily morning walk past my apartment, the wind-blown rustling leaves of the Japanese Maple in my microscopic front yard, and even the seductive purrrr of my two Goddess-like cats.
And suddenly, as if by magic, it doesn’t matter if my soup was awesome or not… there is plenty more awesomeness to go around for me to focus on right now.

Recipe for my Im-Purr-fect Minestrone:

5 Italian Roma Tomatoes {halved}
2 carrots {rough cut}
3 stalks celery {rough cut}
Handful of Sun-Dried Toms {thinly sliced and soaked}
1 Yellow Summer Squash {sm sized & rough cut}
1 Green Summer Squash {sm sized & rough cut}
@ 1 cup mild Cabbage {I used Bok Choy}
@ 1 cup Hearty Greens {I used Rainbow Chard}
Water to blend {aside from soak water}
2 {generous} TBS Pesto
Chives and Parsley {@ 1-2 TBS each}
Nutritional Yeast {I like lots- Like @ 4TBS}
S&P {to taste}

In a high-powered blender or food processor- blend Roma Toms {they only need a few seconds to break up,} next adding sun dried soak water, Celery and Carrots until they are all a medium chop. Then add the leafy bits and Sun Dried Toms. Blend again. The Squashes get blended last, and not for too long, because I prefer them to have a bit more chunkiness since they are naturally supple. Add Pesto, Salt and Pepper to taste, as well as some Nutritional Yeast. At any time during blending you may need a sprinkle or two of water to get the soup moving in the blender, but do not drown it. Garnish with fresh Chives and Parsley.

N.B. If you do not have Pesto, you can substitute it with: 1TBS virginal olive oil, 10 large Basil leaves, 1 scant TBS Pignolis {crushed,} and 1 TBS fresh chopped Parsley.

Bon Apetit!

P.S. We got a new blender the other day. I could not go without for too long. I need my smoothies.