Green Dragon Soup!

Mexican Strain tomatillos at the peak of the summer!

Happy Year of the Dragon to you all!  Flying Bear Farm is starting to get really busy with an incredible Kickstarter project on deck, seeds coming in the mail and plans constantly being drawn.  Even though we’re busy, Ben and I are trying to make time to eat really well and be with friends when we can!  So this weekend we made a unique soup to share with our food luvin’ friends…and with mostly ingredients that we grew, harvested and put up last summer! 

As a nice break from the heavier and sweeter root veggies and squashes of winter, we created a tart soup with Mexican flavors.  The main ingredients, tomatillos and green tomatoes, were frozen by my mama at the peak of the season when we couldn’t even think of eating any more of them.  Pulling those out of the freezer in the middle of January rocked my world! The recipe was a joint effort between Ben, my mama and myself, based a little on a tomatillo and pork stew my mama makes for me (well, for the family, but I like to think it’s for me).  The honey in this recipe is a foil for the bitterness of the green tomatoes, and adds a little funky, earthy sweetness to the bright, tart taste of the soup.  So, maybe you’ll be inspired to try this soup, too!  If you do, let us know it goes!  And play with the recipe!  I love playing with my food…Here’s the recipe:

Summer in January!

Green Dragon Soup

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion (approx. 1 pound), chopped smallish

1 gallon bag frozen tomatillos, chopped bite size

2 quart bags frozen green tomatoes, chopped bite size

1 cup dry Dragon’s Tongue beans, boiled to just tender

(*We decided more beans would be better, so if you have 2 cups, throw that all in! Also, you can of course substitute any kind of dry bean)

Cumin seed, to taste

Chipotle chile powder, to taste

Celtic sea salt, to taste

1 tablespoon raw honey (or more to taste)

• Saute in a separate pan the onions, garlic, chile powder and cumin until onions are soft

• Put tomatoes, tomatillos and onion mixture in big soup pot and turn on high

• Boil for 5ish minutes

• Add beans and turn down to simmer

• Once at a simmer, add honey and salt to taste

• Simmer for 10ish minutes, stirring to mash up larger pieces of tomatoes and tomatillos

• Turn off heat and cool to an edible temperature

• Garnish with chopped cilantro, sour cream and/or lime

Enjoy your new year!

Peace,

~Melissa