This is a recipe for a vegetable soup that my wife and I make often. It is based on nothing at all except what we like to eat. We save vegetable scraps in a 1 gallon zippy bag until it is full then make a vegetable stock from it and use the stock for this soup or cooking things which require or could benefit from the addition of veg stock. This is done by thawing and bringing to a boil the contents of the 1 gallon zippy bag, then simmering for a very long time in lots of water, think hours - like three of them or so. after the liquid has taken flavor and color and reduced considerably discard the vegetable bits and save the liquid. this is what I refer to as vegetable stock.
vegetable scraps include:
The buts of squash that are typically discarded, the guts of squash that would be discarded (spaghetti squash, butternut squash), the stems from greens or any edible but undesireable bits, the tops af onions, the bits of asparagus at the end, broccoli stems and leaves, colliflower stems and leaves, potato eyes, celery bits and leaves carrot bits, edible tomato bits that are edible but would ordinarily be disxcarded. basically anything that is edible but undesirable for the dish you are preparing at the time, use your imagination.
These assorted bits have nutrition and flavor that can be harnessed for awesomeness. I'm not certain that this is actually true or if it is, if this is how you do it. But it works for me and Im not dead yet.
I don't know anything about cooking, nor do I have a good grasp of volumes or measures but I feel that if you have eaten a lot of different things and know the basics of cooking you ought to be able to figure this one out. enjoy.
To Make The soup:
I begin with chopped onions celery and carrots. Its delicious. I lightly sautee this in some sort of lipid, usually olive oil or veg oil and I don't let them brown any. I believe that some folks call this a "Mirepoix" whatever the hell that means, Iv'e never seen that in the grocery store so I call it onions celery and carrots.
Once the onions are see-through I measure 1 cup of white wine. I suppose anything will do so I just use what I have on hand. Take this cup of wine and drink it at your leisure. measure another cup of white wine and add it to the pan that has your onions celery and carrots. Add some garlic, Juice a lemon and add it to the pan cook this down slowly until the wine is thicker and sweeter (im not sure how to explain this but it will get thicker and smell sweet).
now add your homemade veg stock. I suppose I usually add 2 quarts but I honestly don't know and I suppose it doesn't matter just add it until it looks like the amount of soup you want to eat.
while this is coming to a boil I add a handful or so of the following:
cut green beans, peas, corn, diced potatos (larger than the peas and corn but smaller than the kidney beans) 1 can of kidney beans rinsed.
I usually add equal amounts of these things I guess. and bring the soup to a boil then back off to a simmer.
This is also when I season the soup. if it needs salt, I add it. Italian seasonings are particularly well suited to these flavours.
For those with gluten intolerance I suppose you could add some gluten free noodles but I couldn't tell you what. I use 1/3 of a pound of ditalini pasta
when the pasta is cooked the soup is done.
vegetable scraps include:
The buts of squash that are typically discarded, the guts of squash that would be discarded (spaghetti squash, butternut squash), the stems from greens or any edible but undesireable bits, the tops af onions, the bits of asparagus at the end, broccoli stems and leaves, colliflower stems and leaves, potato eyes, celery bits and leaves carrot bits, edible tomato bits that are edible but would ordinarily be disxcarded. basically anything that is edible but undesirable for the dish you are preparing at the time, use your imagination.
These assorted bits have nutrition and flavor that can be harnessed for awesomeness. I'm not certain that this is actually true or if it is, if this is how you do it. But it works for me and Im not dead yet.
I don't know anything about cooking, nor do I have a good grasp of volumes or measures but I feel that if you have eaten a lot of different things and know the basics of cooking you ought to be able to figure this one out. enjoy.
To Make The soup:
I begin with chopped onions celery and carrots. Its delicious. I lightly sautee this in some sort of lipid, usually olive oil or veg oil and I don't let them brown any. I believe that some folks call this a "Mirepoix" whatever the hell that means, Iv'e never seen that in the grocery store so I call it onions celery and carrots.
Once the onions are see-through I measure 1 cup of white wine. I suppose anything will do so I just use what I have on hand. Take this cup of wine and drink it at your leisure. measure another cup of white wine and add it to the pan that has your onions celery and carrots. Add some garlic, Juice a lemon and add it to the pan cook this down slowly until the wine is thicker and sweeter (im not sure how to explain this but it will get thicker and smell sweet).
now add your homemade veg stock. I suppose I usually add 2 quarts but I honestly don't know and I suppose it doesn't matter just add it until it looks like the amount of soup you want to eat.
while this is coming to a boil I add a handful or so of the following:
cut green beans, peas, corn, diced potatos (larger than the peas and corn but smaller than the kidney beans) 1 can of kidney beans rinsed.
I usually add equal amounts of these things I guess. and bring the soup to a boil then back off to a simmer.
This is also when I season the soup. if it needs salt, I add it. Italian seasonings are particularly well suited to these flavours.
For those with gluten intolerance I suppose you could add some gluten free noodles but I couldn't tell you what. I use 1/3 of a pound of ditalini pasta
when the pasta is cooked the soup is done.