A few weeks ago, chef Frank Giglio announced the 2010 Food Challenge. “Take a look into your cupboard or fridge and pick a few ingredients that you don’t know how to use, or that need to be used up. With the list, I will then create a recipe for you. You then try it out, maybe take a picture, then send it back to me.”

The object of the 2010 Challenge is to share knowledge and inspire people to experiment with new methods and try new foods. Well, this sounds like fun and I love a challenge, so I took him up on it! He’s the guy by the way, that inspired me to make my first homemade mayo-amazing a few weeks back.

So, I challenged the good chef to come up with recipes incorporating my delicious local raw cream with some deep greeny green greens. Many nutrients in veggies are fat soluble, so in order for your body to absorb all that goodness, it’s best to pair veggies with a wholesome fat like cream, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.

Well, he delivered! I got two recipes – one for a raw creamy green soup with thyme and another for broccoli drizzled with a cream sauce. As soon as I got the recipes, I set out to make the soup and it didn’t disappoint. The fresh thyme added the perfect touch of favor. Next week, I’ll be making the broccoli with cream sauce. Yum!

Creamy Green Soup with Thyme

"Raw Creamy Green Soup"

2-3 cups worth of greens
1 garlic clove
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons onion, chopped
1 stalk celery
sea salt to taste
Juice of a lemon, or a splash of cider vinegar
a hint of cayenne of black peppercorn, to taste
1/2 cup of cream

Blend well adding more cream according to desired creaminess.

TIP! I like to culture my cream with a teaspoon of yogurt or kefir per ounce of cream, left at room temperature overnight.

Check out Chef Frank Giglio’s website for more great recipes and his custom line of spice blends. A bit of trivia – he and I both worked at the Tree of Life at different times – small world. His wife Goji Girl also has a great blog that I highly recommend. I mentioned her in my Outting Myself post recently.