Corn, Tomato, and Zucchini Soup

This week we were lucky to catch the seasons very last zucchini's at Farmer's Market.  It is notably out of season, but we love fresh zucchini, so we bought them up along with some other fall season veggies.  It is getting cold here in Michigan, so soup is on the mind.  For a base recipe to start from, we went to one of our staple cookbooks, Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food.  Sometimes it helps to have a recipe from which to edit, change and make your own, especially when you are tired after a long day at work.  We happened to have a fresh french baguette to accompany, which was a perfect compliment, but any light crunchy bread should do fine.

Corn, Tomato, and Zucchini Soup
Makes 6 servings

4 cups vegetable stock
3 ears fresh corn
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2-3 small zucchini, diced
1 tablespoon garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 28-ounce can kidney beans
2 teaspoons basalmic vinegar

Heat the stock in a large saucepan.  Strip the kernels from the corn cobs and add the cobs to the stock.  Simmer while you prepare the other vegetables.
Place the butter in a medium saucepan, heat over medium.  Add the onion and cook, stirring until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
Remove the corn cobs from the stock. Add the vegetables and cook until the zucchini is tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the corn kernels and kidney beans.  Add the vinegar.  Taste and season more as needed.  Serve warm with some great bread.