Thursday, May 17, 2012
The differences between living in Texas and Los Angeles are as different as night and day. You would never catch anyone in my two stoplight town shopping for summer vegetables in some fancy "organic" store like most Angelenos. During the summer, if I buy any produce from the local HEB (for you folks who are unfamiliar with the popular acronym HEB, it stands for Howard E Butts: a popular grocery store usually found in 2 stoplight towns across TX that prides itself on dirt cheap prices and cold Old Milwaukee's Best) my dad asks me his favorite question: "have you bumped your head?" My dad has been asking me this question my entire life, I think because I always tend to do things a little differently...
Anyway, about the summer produce thing. Right now in Texas you can't walk past a yard that doesn't have a big ass spring garden growing. There are no farmer's markets or organic grocery stores in my little hometown, but the one thing we do have is fresh produce. You can't outrun the neighbors and family who are trying to supply you with hoards of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, swiss chard, new potatoes, squash, green beans and corn even if you sprint. The supply of fresh garden deliciousness in Texas definitely exceeds the demand. This leaves most Texans trying to find new ways to fry, bake, boil, grill, pickle or can their bounty to serve at every meal.
It's a constant race to keep up with the production of a spring garden. You can pick your garden during the day and go to sleep that night only to wake up the next morning to find everything has grown back.
Last week while I was in Texas, between the gardens of my cousin and parents, I ended up with a gigantic box full of produce. I decided to make a "throw it in the pot soup." Everything in the pot besides for the water and a sprinkling of garlic, salt and pepper came from home gardens within a mile radius of my house. My soup consisted of three kinds of squash, cilantro, red onion, bell peppers, green beans, banana peppers, swiss chard, thyme and new potatoes. It was the easy, most delicious soup ever, and the best part is that you can use whatever vegetables you happen to have laying around, and it's going to be delicious no matter what. I call it the "no excuse" soup, because there is no excuse for wasting these veggies! To make a "no excuse" vegetable soup, just dice your veggies, dump them in a big pot, add water and seasoning, and simmer for 30 minutes. Every spoonful tastes like summer. Maybe I'll put a garden in my backyard in Los Angeles so I can start becoming my own neighborhood produce pusher...
Photos courtesy of my cousins's garden in TX
