Good Things Utah — My Zucchini & Bacon Soup

Today I made my Zucchini & Bacon Soup on a cooking segment on ABC-4’s Good Things Utah.  It has  become one of my go-to cooking demos because it’s easy to do, and everyone wants another way to use up the zucchini that takes over Utah gardens this time of year.  You can see the segment here —

The zucchini came straight out of the garden. Can’t get much fresher than that! The soup gets part of its creaminess from the pureed zucchini, and part from half-and-half.

To save some calories, I used fat-free half-and-half this morning; but you could also use milk.  After we were done filming, I added a little more pepper to perk up the flavor.

Zucchini is known as a stealth veggie, often disguised in brownies and cakes and even mock apple pies. So it’s fitting that a lot of people mistake this as broccoli soup. I won’t tell, if you won’t!

This soup also offers a blank canvas for switching up ingredients.  Troy Thompson, the Good Things Utah co-host that did the segment with me, suggested adding garlic; I like adding grated cheese, too. Or you can toss in corn, peas, chopped broccoli or diced potatoes,  to make it into a veggie chowder.

Zucchini & Bacon Soup is so easy to make, and budget-wise, since your main ingredient is free (either from your garden or from someone else’s).