Bowl of Soup

I made dinner tonight from a soup recipe we enjoy quite a lot. Cannellini beans, squash, onions, bacon, garlic and sundried tomatoes. Its supper yummy.

As I was chopping away I looked down the ingredient list and realized that with the exception of some of the beans, everything was something we grew or -in the case of the bacon- purchased from someone who raised it locally.

The localvore concept entered our lives a few years ago and after first assuming that "we already did that" we started looking more closely at what food we consumed that was either produced or was grown locally. This started a fundamental shift that made us more closely attuned to examining just where everything we eat and drink comes from.

What caught my attention this evening was how, without any conscious effort, our dish was almost completely local. This is not special and I'm not trying to say its even that big a deal, rather that I find that this little calculation happens almost as a habit most of the time, and has really for the last few years, with pretty satisfying results.

There's pride and satisfaction in a meal like this, and I feel lucky that we get to make the choices we do when it comes to food.

Here's the breakdown:

Bacon -- from Helm, the Frozen Butcher, northern Vermont
Onions, garlic, butternut squash, and rosemary -- grown by us right here
Chicken broth -- made by Nancy from the parts left over from chickens we co-raised last summer
Cannellini beans and navy beans -- some we grew, some are from unknown
"Sundried" tomatoes -- we grow and dry tons of sungolds in our dehydrator
Salt and pepper -- from parts unknown

If you've read this far and are actually curious about the recipe, here you go. Try it. You'll be psyched.

• 2 thick bacon slices, chopped
• 2 decent sized chopped onions
  
• 6 garlic cloves(or more!), minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups cubed and peeled butternut squash
  
• 4 cups cannellini (white kidney beans), undrained
• a cup or so of sundried tomatoes, otherwise diced tomatoes in juice
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Sauté bacon in heavy large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Add chopped onion and garlic to drippings in pot; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth; bring to boil. Stir in butternut squash, 1 or so cups cannellini with liquid, drained tomatoes, and fresh rosemary. Puree remaining 2-3 cups cannellini with liquid in processor until smooth; add to soup. Cover and simmer until butternut squash is tender and flavors blend, about 15 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper. (Bacon and soup can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap and chill bacon. Chill soup uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Rewarm bacon and soup separately before serving.)

Garnish with chopped bacon and serve. Or just chop up the bacon and put it in with everything else, but don't leave it out!

We got this recipe from Epicurious and have modified it slightly since.