Yesterday, James and I made one of our favorites - a basic minestrone. It's such a simple soup to whip up. I never measure anything and improvise with what we have on hand. Here's a list of the ingredients and some general soup-making advice...
Ingredients (listed in order how I added them to the pot):
2 tb + extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 flavorful carrot, chopped
2 stalks (organic) celery, chopped*
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tb herbs de provence
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes + can of water
1 qt low sodium vegetable broth
1 can white or red kidney beans
1 zucchini
1 zucchini
2 cups chopped kale
Fresh parsley and/or basil, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Rather than walk you through THIS recipe step by step, I'm going to give you my tips on how to make a delicious soup every time in the context of this soup.
It all starts with your mirepoix, a simple saute of onions, carrots, and celery (in a ratio of roughly 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot and 1 part celery). This is the base of most soups, though it is often varied by adding peppers and/or garlic.
Goldilocks chop your onion (or shallots or leeks) -- not too big, not too small, just right! The onion will soften a lot, but try not to use big hunks of onion unless you like biting into big hunks of onion. Add it to a large heavy-bottomed pot after your olive oil is hot (it should NEVER be smoking). You'll know it's the right temperature when you add a piece of onion to the oil and it sizzles but doesn't go crazy and brown quickly!
Keep in mind that for a pretty soup, you want them to be uniformly chopped, but that it doesn't really matter when it comes to taste! For texture, you have to chop and add ingredients to the pot based on cooking time. Carrots go in right after the onion because in this soup, they're the hardest. I usually saute the carrots for a bit before adding the celery to finish the mirepoix. Add sea salt to taste and add dried herbs to the mirepoix now because the sauteing in olive oil unlock their flavor, infusing the soup with it. Fresh herbs always get added at the end.
I don't add the garlic until there's some moisture in the saute from the veggies because if it goes directly in hot oil, it will burn and turn bitter pretty quickly. So in this soup, I added the garlic then the peppers and let them saute a bit before adding the tomatoes. Stir this mixture and monitor your heat. You don't want the veggies to start browning, but you do want them to soften and sweat their juices a bit before you add the tomatoes and broth. Give them a few minutes to get to know each other before adding the tomatoes, water, and broth. Turn the heat up and bring the soup to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat to simmer once it comes to a boil. When the carrots are almost soft enough for your liking (go ahead and eat one!), add the beans, zucchini, and kale. Continue to simmer until the zucchini is perfectly soft and the kale is bright green. Then, add some freshly chopped parsley and/or basil to finish. You can also stir in some good extra virgin olive oil or some grated Parmesan, Romano, or Pecorino (or all of the above!)...
The best thing about soup like this is that it can feed you all week. One day, eat it on it's own. The next, add some orzo pasta, quinoa, or brown rice to change it up a bit. I love using wide mouth pint-sized canning jars (they're even freezer safe) to store it because it's the perfect serving size and if you fill the jars while the soup is still hot, the seal will pop air tight, lengthening the shelf life a bit. A jar of veggie soup stored like this can last up to a week in the fridge and months in the freezer!
* A note about celery: According to the Environmental Working Group, it's routinely one of the dirtiest produce items in the grocery store with the highest amount of residual pesticides. Go for organic if you can. Trader Joe's carries organic celery hearts at a reasonable price.
It all starts with your mirepoix, a simple saute of onions, carrots, and celery (in a ratio of roughly 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot and 1 part celery). This is the base of most soups, though it is often varied by adding peppers and/or garlic.
Goldilocks chop your onion (or shallots or leeks) -- not too big, not too small, just right! The onion will soften a lot, but try not to use big hunks of onion unless you like biting into big hunks of onion. Add it to a large heavy-bottomed pot after your olive oil is hot (it should NEVER be smoking). You'll know it's the right temperature when you add a piece of onion to the oil and it sizzles but doesn't go crazy and brown quickly!
Keep in mind that for a pretty soup, you want them to be uniformly chopped, but that it doesn't really matter when it comes to taste! For texture, you have to chop and add ingredients to the pot based on cooking time. Carrots go in right after the onion because in this soup, they're the hardest. I usually saute the carrots for a bit before adding the celery to finish the mirepoix. Add sea salt to taste and add dried herbs to the mirepoix now because the sauteing in olive oil unlock their flavor, infusing the soup with it. Fresh herbs always get added at the end.
I don't add the garlic until there's some moisture in the saute from the veggies because if it goes directly in hot oil, it will burn and turn bitter pretty quickly. So in this soup, I added the garlic then the peppers and let them saute a bit before adding the tomatoes. Stir this mixture and monitor your heat. You don't want the veggies to start browning, but you do want them to soften and sweat their juices a bit before you add the tomatoes and broth. Give them a few minutes to get to know each other before adding the tomatoes, water, and broth. Turn the heat up and bring the soup to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat to simmer once it comes to a boil. When the carrots are almost soft enough for your liking (go ahead and eat one!), add the beans, zucchini, and kale. Continue to simmer until the zucchini is perfectly soft and the kale is bright green. Then, add some freshly chopped parsley and/or basil to finish. You can also stir in some good extra virgin olive oil or some grated Parmesan, Romano, or Pecorino (or all of the above!)...
The best thing about soup like this is that it can feed you all week. One day, eat it on it's own. The next, add some orzo pasta, quinoa, or brown rice to change it up a bit. I love using wide mouth pint-sized canning jars (they're even freezer safe) to store it because it's the perfect serving size and if you fill the jars while the soup is still hot, the seal will pop air tight, lengthening the shelf life a bit. A jar of veggie soup stored like this can last up to a week in the fridge and months in the freezer!
* A note about celery: According to the Environmental Working Group, it's routinely one of the dirtiest produce items in the grocery store with the highest amount of residual pesticides. Go for organic if you can. Trader Joe's carries organic celery hearts at a reasonable price.
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