Tag Archives: soups

Afraid my veggies will go bad Soup- a pleasant surprise.

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Talking to my cousin Stephanie the other day, she told me about some crazy concoction she invented the other day for fear that all the veggies she bought from Whole Foods would go bad. I was then reading an interesting book “The Body Ecology Diet” and it discusses the many benefits of soups and suggests getting creative with veggies that are about to spoil. What struck me the most was that the book suggests that making soup is fool-proof, meaning you don’t have to know how to cook to pull it off. Since everyone knows I can’t cook for the life of me, I had to try this.

So on Sunday, considering we were in this fake hurricane mode and I was stuck at home anyway, I gave it a shot and tried the following:

I started off by chopping up a ton of celery which was already wilting, ginger, garlic and onions and sauteeing them over some coconut oil. Then I poured in organic chicken broth that I had at home, some left over vegetable broth in the fridge that was about to go bad, carrots, cabbage, rainbow chard, squash, zucchini, and cauliflower. Its pretty much everything I had in the fridge, including leftover veggies from a vegetable tray we served at a get together we had. Instead of tossing the leftovers, I put them in the soup! I added about 5 cayenne pepper liquid drops, a little sazon completo, turmeric powder, and celtic sea salt.

I brought the soup to a boil, then simmered for 20 minutes (until the carrots were tender) and voila! I made the very first soup concoction of my own!!!!! I wanted the soup to be spicy because this pregnancy is stuffing up my sinuses, but when I tasted it I realized the cayenne pepper hadn’t spiced it up much, so I added about 5 more drops to my own personal soup and it made it spicier.

The verdict… I was pleasantly surprised!!! Orlando expected garbage and found it to be bland at first but after a few sips, he actually liked it. The next day I tried another variety and wasn’t quite as successful, it was totally bland…but that’s only because i’m learning to play with seasonings and really am an amateur!

Let’s face it, it can’t compare to the meals my husband makes and it can definitely use a lot of work, but the point is I’m proud to say my kids loved it; it was pretty good; and most importantly it was a bowl of health!!!!!

So the next time your veggies are about to spoil, think twice before you toss and try making your own soup at home. And if your kids are not old enough to drink soups yet, you can puree the leftovers and give it to them that way.

Good luck!!!! Please reply and let us know of any inventions you think are worth sharing.

Lentil Soup

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You may have noticed…we’re big fans of Soup!! This is not a coincidence. Soups give you such an opportunity to Pile on the Greens and add goodness to your meal. It also allows us to make large portions which gives us leftovers for the kids and lunches.

I have to confess that before we started this journey I only ate 2 kinds of soup. Campbell’s cream of chicken and my mom’s chicken soup when I was sick. I didn’t even think I was a soup person. But all that has changed!!!!!

Now we have soup probably twice a week. Cabbage Soup is a weekly staple, and then one week we’ll make beet soup, and another week we’ll make lentil soup, so on and so forth.

We took this lentil soup from ALTON BROWN and Orlando put his spin on it. He’s actually tried several different variations, but each time he tries to pile on more greens!! This is his latest and in my opinion, most delicious, twist.
*Every item marked is an Orlando addition or substitution.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • I finely chopped leek*
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
  • 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
  • 2 quarts vegetable broth
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
  • 1 tbsp teaspoon freshly ground Turmeric*
  • 1 cup of mushrooms*
  • 2 handfuls of spinach*
  • Chicken andouille sausage*

Directions:

Place the olive oil into a large 6-quart Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, leek and salt and sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes,mushrooms, broth, coriander, cumin and turmeric and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 50 to 55 minutes. 3 minutes before the timer ends, throw in the Spinach. It will wilt in 3 minutes so you really want to avoid putting it in until the end. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately. Add cooked chicken andouille slices to the served plate.

A NOTE ON BLENDING: Consistency is a personal choice. Some people like the texture of the lentils, others like it thicker like a puree. I like the lentils, orlando likes the puree…therefore, we compromise. He puts half of the soup in our blender, blends and pours back into the dutch oven. That gives a little bit of both textures and it is DELICIOUS! But this is all a matter of personal preference.

Chicken Andouille: We slice the sausage down the middle and grill on our griddle. Then we slice it into small pieces and add to the meal. The soup can be eaten sans the sausage. We like it because it adds a spiciness to the soup that we enjoy and makes the soup more fillings. This too is a matter of personal preference.