Are you a Soup Nazi?

[Merry]

We had flurries up here in the North yesterday,so it's definately soup weather. If I ever write a cookbook, it would be for lazy, er um very busy people. Here is a recipe I came up with on my own that takes me off the hook for preparing meals for over a day if it lasts that long. Lots of flavor , not alot of work.

Lentil / Keilbasa Soup

Fill a large soup pot half full of water and throw in a package of lentils, a sliced up keilbasa, a package of chopped frozen spinach, a large chopped onion, a large spoonful of chicken stock paste and about a cup of chopped celery heart and a generous amount of celery seed. Boil, simmer until done.

What's your "soup nazi" claim to fame?

[darroll]

I love leek soup.

[Snagg]

Roast some Poblano chilies, sear some cubed pork roast, saute some garlic and onions, chop up a few tomatillos, oregano, cumin, some home-made dark chicken stock, a dab of mole', simmer a couple of hours, serve it over some steamed rice...Voila'. Chilli Verde'.

Except I'm no nazi about it. I share it with anybody who asks.

[Merry]

hmmmmmyummy!

[P.A.]

I am not a Nazi but I do love soup. I have developed a very quick recipe for vergetable soup that produces very good soup in less than an hour. I start with what every type of beef I have. Left over pot roast, meat loaf, ground beef or steak which I warm or brown depending on if it is already cooked then I add a package of frozen mixed vegetables, extra potatoes, a large can of chopped tomatoes, any other left over vegetables in the frige and a chopped union. I season to taste with salt, red pepper flakes and garlic. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and cover. I an hour you have great soup.

[Merry]

Sounds good, I'll have to try it!

[d's girl]

yummy! Thanks, pickleallen!

[z100]

go to the store buy a can of soup, open it, pour contents into a pot, heat, then enjoy.... LOL

[Chez moi]

Never a Nazi of any kind, but my brother-in-law crowned me the soup queen, long ago.

I love potato soup.

Cube up onions and potatoes (minimum; you can always add leek, cauliflower, broccoli or chopped cabbage later), brown lightly in butter, salt & pepper, then just cover with water and simmer gently until tender. Mash potatoes lightly to thicken soup, add any optional veg and chopped ham or crumbled bacon. When veg are cooked add milk (and maybe a spoonful of sour cream) to thin to taste. With cauli or broccoli I like to crumble in a little cheddar to melt in at the last minute.

[Merry]

I always used to order vichyssoise' as a kid and once the waiter asked me if I knew what it was. So I said ,"Yes, it's cold potato soup." Leeks, I haven't grown them in so long. One of my goals this year is to have a little kitchen garden. I need about 3 cubic yards of compost to get going with the raised beds.

[d's girl]

This is a great thread, Merry, thank you! I feel like I need to copy the whole thread to a "recipe" file!

btw.... you may already know this, but you can try Freecycle.com or your local Craigslist for free compost.
My bff has had good luck w/this a couple times, although she has had to check them out first. For example, when she was shopping for manure, it took a couple tries before she found appropriately seasoned manure, instead of stuff that was too fresh. Just takes asking a couple of questions. Also, our local county's Trash & Recycling depot has free compost. The issue is having the appropriate vehicle to transport it in, and it's hard work to load & unload it.

[kainsworth]

I usually make soup at least once a week. The recipes are often based on what needs to get used up in the fridge before it starts to go bad. About half of the soups I make are vegetarian so that my daughter can eat them. One of my most popular vegetarian ones is black bean and roasted vegetable.

Take a bunch of roma or large cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. (Those dry, mealy winter tomatoes are actually great for this.) Chop up an onion, some carrots, a little celery, and whatever other veggies you have around that could stand to be roasted. I like to toss a little garlic in there too, either cutting the cloves in half or chopping them coarsely.

Toss them all in a bowl with olive oil, sprinkle them with sea salt and pepper, and spread them out in the darkest sheet pan you have. If you have a lot of veggies, use two pans so that they are all touching the bottom of a pan. (Make sure the pan has sides so that the juice doesn't run off into the bottom of the oven.) Roast them at about 400 degrees, stirring them around about every 10 to 15 minutes, until there are some nice toasty black bits on the veggies and sticking to the bottom of the pan a little bit. It could take 45 minutes or a little over an hour, depending on the density of the veggies.

Meanwhile, open two cans of black beans, and dump them into a pot with the juice they are in. Warm it up a bit, and add a little veggie boullion if you need it. (You might not, and could add it later.) When the veggies are done, dump them into the pot, then put the pan on the stove.

Pour about a cup of red wine - whatever you have leftover from the night before, or whatever you plan to open for that evening - into the pan, and scrape up the black bits over a little heat on the stove. (It's actually called 'fond', but I like the term black bits. It's more rustic.) Dump all of that roasty goodness into the pot, and simmer it up for about half an hour. You can squirt a little tobasco in there if you like.

Some of the parts take a while, but it's really not hard to make, and you can do it ahead of time and rewarm it. I usually make a big batch and freeze some so that I have something really yummy on days that I have less time to cook.

[Merry]

Thank you for sharing that, I love the flavor of roasted veggies but didn't think of your combination. Smacking my lips just thinking of it.