Corn
and Freekah Vegetable Soup
Freekah is smoked, cracked green
wheat--an ancient way of enjoying some of the wheat crop before it was
completely ripe and ready for harvest. The smoky flavor makes a
wonderful platform for sweet corn and other vegetables. It's
available in middle eastern groceries, and the spelling may vary by
brand (Freekah, Frika, Frikah, etc). I use a pressure cooker to
make the stock as I prepare the vegetables for the soup.
Serves 6-8
2 bay leaves
pinch each dried parsley, rosemary, and thyme, or a few sprigs fresh
1-2 carrots
1/2 t salt
2 quarts cold water
6-8
ears of corn on the cob
2 onions
sugar
snap peas, about 1 pound
6-8 summer squash: small zucchini, yellow crookneck, or whichever
you have available
1
1/2 C freekah
rosemary,
pinch dried or a fresh sprig
olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons
fresh basil, to taste (for my taste, that's about 2 cups of
leaves, or several of the ridiculously small bunches sold in
supermarkets)
salt and black pepper to taste
Add the
bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, and thyme, salt, and coarsely chopped
carrots to the pressure cooker with 1 quart of cold water. If you
don't have a pressure cooker, or your cooker is not at least a 6 quart
size, use a medium stockpot.
Prepare the
corn: shuck the corn. Cut the kernels off 4-6 ears, and
scrape the cobs to get everything out. Set this aside. Cut
the kernels off the remaining ears, and add both the cobs and the
kernels from the last ears of corn to the pressure cooker.
Coarsely chop
one onion and a couple of squash and add to the cooker.
Cut the tips off
the sugar snap peas. Add the tips to the stock mix in the
pressure cooker, and reserve the pods for the soup.
Strip the leaves
off the basil. Add the stalks to the cooker.
Add cold water
to cover in the pressure cooker, and bring to 15# pressure over high
heat. Turn heat down to low, and cook 15 minutes at 15#
pressure. Remove from heat and let pressure come down on its
own. If using a stockpock, bring all to a boil then simmer 1 hour
over low heat.
While the stock
cooks, chop and set aside the remaining onion and squash. Cut the
pea pods in half. Tear the larger basil leaves into 2-3 pieces.
Strain the
finished stock. In the same pot, simmer the freekah in the
stock for about 20 minutes.
At the same time, in a stockpot or large saute pan, saute the onions
until translucent and starting to color up.
Add the remaining rosemary, squash, and reserved corn kernels and
nibs, and saute over medium heat a few minutes.
When the freekah is soft, add with the stock to the sauteeing
vegetables. Simmer until the squash is tender.
Add the sugar
snap peas and simmer another 1-2 minutes. They should not lose
their bright green color. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper
to taste. Give the basil leaves just a minute to wilt, and
you're done.
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