Color your Palate Vegetable Soup for #The Book Club Cookbook CC and #FoodiesRead 2016.

This month's selection for the BCCBCC is Sarah of Things I Make for Dinner.  You can find out all about our group and how to join along with us by going to Sarah's invitation post.  Sarah chose the book Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.  This fun adventure is the brainchild of my friend, Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  There is also a giveaway of this fun cookbook following my recipe.

It is the fictional story of the girl portrayed in the painting by Vermeer.  In the opening chapter, the protagonist, Griet, is in her parent's kitchen preparing dinner when Vermeer, who is acquainted with her father, comes to meet her.  He is looking for household help, specifically to clean his studio. Griet's father, an artist in a tile factory, lost his sight in an explosion and the family has fallen on hard times.  The teenage Griet goes to work for the artist so that she is able to help out with expenses.  

When the artist meets Griet that first time, he immediately notices how, as she is cutting vegetables for soup, she has made a colorful circle of them.  He recognizes that she has artistic instincts and this is one of the reasons he has chosen her to enter his studio that no one else in the household, other than his mother in law, is allowed to enter.

This is a story of a young girl coming to age.  It is a story of relationships and responsibilities.  I enjoyed this book very much and I would recommend it.  I have never seen the movie but I think I would like to now that I have read the story.

The author's of The Book Club Cookbook, Gelman and Krupp, featured a vegetable soup for this book.  They related how Chevalier attempted to recreate the soup using red cabbage as Griet had which resulted in a muddy pink mess that she could not eat.  Gelman and Krupp used green cabbage for their soup and red cabbage for garnish.  

I chose to make a color palette as well and it was very good on the palate so I named my soup Color Your Palate Vegetable Soup.  Aren't I clever?  Humor me here.....  I used tomatoes so there was some red in the mix, different shades of white with the turnip and cauliflower and different shades of green with the broccoli, leeks and cabbage. The carrot added a pop of brightness.

Once the vegetables are all prepped this soup couldn't be any easier...Just throw everything into the pot, bring it to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and let it cook until tender.  Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed and dinner is served.

Color your Palate Vegetable Soup

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 leeks, white and light green parts, halved, rinsed and sliced

1/2 small head cabbage, cored and sliced

2 carrots, scraped and sliced

Florets from 1 small head cauliflower

Florets from 1 small stalk broccoli

1 small turnip. diced

3 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

1 T. slightly dried parsley

1 qt. tomatoes with juices

8 c. beef stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.  Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.  Print Recipe

Giveaway

This month Sarah at Thing I Make (for Dinner), this month's host, is giving away a copy of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from April 1st till April 30th at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: Sarah received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

Join us at Foodies Read 2016 where we share our current reads with each other.