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WINTER COMFORT FOOD – VEGETABLE SOUP

sylveee

Comfort Food is Food that warms the body and the soul.  It makes you feel good and satisfied after eating it.  I think Comfort Food is different for different cultures and different people but there are variations within the dishes that we call ‘Comfort Food’.  The differences are not so much in the main ingredients but in the preparation techniques and the seasonings used.  Here is another great Comfort Food that really warms you inside – Vegetable Soup – it can be served as a complete meal with the addition of some protein and delicious fresh bread.  It can also be served as a first course and the leftovers are great for lunch.

 

I love to make Vegetable and it is one of my favorite ways of cleaning out the Vegetable in my refrigerator. If you have ever wondered what you are going to do with all those vegetables that you just can’t seem to getting around to use or even if like I do, you have little bits and little bits of that, Vegetable Soup is the perfect vehicle for using up those items.  So when I taught school, I taught my students how to make ‘Clean Out the Refrigerator’ Vegetable Soup.

 

What you will need is a large pot and some Olive Oil and whatever you can forage from your refrigerator.  If you don’t have items in your refrigerator that you can use, you can always visit your local Farmer’s Market or Grocery Store to pick up whatever you wish to put in your soup.  For the last batch I made, I used Onions, (a must), Celery, Carrots, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Tomato Paste, Frozen Peas and Corn.  For the batch before this one I used a Sweet Potato and Spinach.  Visit vegetable-soup for the complete recipe.

 

Saute your Vegetables (starting with the Onion and Mushrooms)  in Olive Oil. I always salt the Mushrooms as they do need and it helps to leech out some of the water in their pores.  Once they have cooked and started caramelizing add the remaining fresh Vegetables and dried herbs.  For the liquid I use either de-fatted Turkey, Chicken or Beef Broth, depending on what is in my freezer.  Vegetable Soup does not need to cook for a long time – you do not want really mush vegetables.  It is much better to have some texture left to bite into. About 10 minutes before serving bring the soup up to boiling and add about 1 cup uncooked Pasta.   Once the Pasta is ‘al dente’ add fresh Herbs  (in this case two kinds of Basil), and frozen Peas and/or Corn if you are going to use them.  A couple of minutes is all you need for these frozen Vegetables.

 

 

To make a complete meal out of your Vegetable Soup, add some Protein such as Tofu (for Vegans), Chicken, Sliced Hot Dogs or Sausage or Turkey.  Any one of the above make a great addition to your soup which is also delicious without it.  Just serve it with some Hot Fresh Bread.

 

                                Fresh Vegetable Soup with Pasta

 

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