Skip to main content

Vegetable Soup

Today is our Polar Vortex. We woke up to a temperature of -23, with a wind chill of -45.   I am a public school teacher so I am very lucky to be home safe and warm.  Since the Governor cancelled school last week I was able to prepare for 1 to 2 days of being in the house. After having chili yesterday the next best meal to make when it's this cold is soup.  I decided to make my two favorites today and tomorrow; Vegetable and Cabbage.  At first they may seem similar, but other than the vegetables, they are really very different.  The vegetable soup uses olive oil and sautes the veggies, and the cabbage soup simply boils them.

I found this recipe in some magazine years ago, probably in some doctors office's waiting room where I ripped it out and took it home!  It has everything in it I love- vegetables and beans!  I have made changes to the original recipe so this my final version.   Don't be alarmed by the amount of olive oil, it disappears.

I like to make a batch of this soup on a Sunday afternoon and then have it for dinner on Monday, and then freeze the rest of it in single serving containers.  That way after a long day at work, when we don't want to cook, but we still want a warm, healthy, hearty, home-cooked meal we can just take container out of the freezer and enjoy!


Raw veggies.
Ingredients:

3/4 cup olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 medium size cabbage, chopped
1- 9 oz, box chopped frozen spinach *see note
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 to 4 cups cannellini beans, drained



Cooking the veggies. 
Put about a third of the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add half each of the chopped onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften ( about 10 minutes). Add half of the remaining oil and repeat the process, with each layer sprinkle with salt and pepper as you go. Add the last of the oil with the parsley and cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is softened but not browned.  Adjust the heat as needed.

Add the tomato paste and stir.  Add the beans, leaving some of them more or less whole, and add them to the pot.   Add spinach. *I cook the spinach in the microwave according the directions on the package.  Once cooked put them in a colander and using the back of a fork push down to thoroughly drain the water out of the spinach.   Stir in and cook.  Adjust seasonings.  Add enough water to cover, making the pot stewy, not watery.
I added a bit more water because it will reduce while I'm letting it simmer. 


Keep tasting and adjusting as necessary, until all vegetables are tender and the soup is hot.  If it starts to reduce too much you can always add more water to cover.  I like this to be more of a stew than a soup.

One container of soup ready for the freezer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho Mushroom Sauce, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

It really was as good, or even better then it looks! Tonight's meal is all Daryl!  He asked me what I wanted and my response was something like, "Meat sounds good, clean, not a lot of cheese, cream etc..." and what he came up with was  Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho Mushroom Sauce, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts.   Did I marry a good man or what?!  I also thought another Cesar Salad sounded good so, you guessed it - we're having one!   We are huge fans of Bobby Flay and we chose his recipes a lot.  I have said before that his recipes can be pretty time consuming, but there are days when that can be fun, and this was one of those days.  Daryl enjoys the steps that he has in his recipes, it makes it interesting for him, and a it is a challenge.  I am grateful to Bobby because of him I get to eat awesome food! SMOKED RED PEPPER SAUCE Yields: 2 ½ cups 4 roasted red bell peppers, chopped ½ small red onion, coarsely ...
1 comment
Read more

Seared Tuna, Yellowtail and Salmon with Three Dipping Sauces

Simply delicious! These were pan seared on the stove.  This is a perfect light summer meal!  I have made it using the grill and the stove top and they were both fabulous!  I am not a huge fan of the Orange-Ginger Sauce but I included it here just in case you were interested in trying it.  There is nothing off putting about it, I just don't care for the orange flavor with the fish.  For a side dish I simply have either roasted asparagus or a corn salad.  (See separate post)  Also, the fish monger at Coastal Seafood informed me that yellowtail is synonymous with Hamachi (the one on the right).  I enjoyed the salmon and the tuna more so the second time I made this I only used those two, again your preference.(Another Bobbly Flay fav) Ingredients 1 pound skinless salmon fillet, sliced into 1-inch think strips 1 pound skinless tuna loin, sliced into 1-inch thick strips 1 pound yellowtail fillet, sliced tino 1-inch-thick strips Canola oil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Curry Spiced Bloody Mary

I am a self proclaimed Bloody Mary connoisseur.   It is my go to drink when we go out, always.  I tend to just drink wine at home. It's too expensive out, and we have much better wine at home anyway.  Occasionally I will go for a Margarita, but only if I know that it will be made from scratch, which is rare.  I used to be a waitress and a bartender and I am fully aware that most margaritas, at most bars and restaurants, have them pre-made on a "gun".  No thank you.  Back to my Bloody Mary addiction. Many bars use a bottle mix for Bloody Mary's, which doesn't bother me as much as the gun margarita, but I prefer one that is made from scratch.   I love tomatoes.  I could eat them every day - I actually do in the summer when we can get them fresh off the vine.  Here in MN a tomato in the winter doesn't even resemble a real one. I have found the perfect Bloody Mary recipe in our bon appetit subscription a few years ago.  It is light an...
Post a Comment
Read more