Big bowl of YUCK!

First let's start with the pickings... There came a day not too long ago where I realized so many of my garden growies were looking soooo great that I really wanted to use them all - right then and there! What's a good way to use more of the things we consider "cool weather" crops? Soup! Mmmm....a good soup might include kale, swiss chard and leeks....and then I can throw in potatoes and we'll see what else happens.

First, let's pick as many veggies as we can - and since they look so cool, I should probably pose with them!


Hm, these didn't seem quite so big and overwhelming out in the garden.


Would you believe the biggest/tallest of the leeks here, from top to bottom, was ALMOST as tall as me!?!?


Alright, how're we looking?


Theeeeeere we go - nothing's falling out, nothing's poking me in the face....CHEESE!


Ok, let's get to choppin'! Just to show how much stuff I picked and chopped up for this soon-to-be-amazing soup, I wanted to provide a little perspective. Wow, that's a lot of swiss chard.


And the Niro di Toscana kale? Yup, got a whole lotta that as well!


So then I started throwing it all together - adding potatoes, salt, pepper, water, chicken broth...


Annnnnd....that's the last picture. Have you ever started making something that seems like it's going to be SO good, but then it turns out tasting like dishwater? This stuff was both lackluster AND gross. Like it kept going back and forth between barely having flavor, and having bad flavor. Now it was meat-free, but that can't have been the issue. This turned into one of those recipes where I kept adding things, and just couldn't get it good. I don't remember if carrots were involved, and I know we were out of celery, but I added some canned beans, some chopped up tomato, more salt, garlic, etc....

Nope, still wasn't good. It LOOKED good - just the taste was all wrong. I'm thinking maybe I went too heavy on the kale and chard, and perhaps those needed something equally strong flavored, like bacon or ham hocks maybe? THANKFULLY most of the stuff in this dish came from the garden (so sort of "free"), and they're heavy producing crops - I've already got way more than I know what to do with re-grown out in the garden. So hey - sometimes you make a great meal...and sometimes it flops.

Better luck next time!