Brrr, the Weather’s Right for Making Hot Soup!
Warm, flavorful and filling Minestrone Soup and flax crackers! It’s cold out! So, here’s 3 hot and healthy soup cooking tips for you today. For instance, wondering what to do with leftover raw vegetables?
How to avoid food waste; Cooking tip 1:
You can always think of Minestrone soup as being made from leftover raw veggies or pasta from the fridge, freezer, or pantry. It’s so convenient when you just have miscellaneous odds and ends. If it’s not fresh, toss it. But, if it is, freeze for another use like making vegetable stock, or make soup! Or, this is even easier.
Vegetable Soup Cooking tip 2:
If you ever want to make homemade vegetable soup, it’s important to chop your vegetables according to how hard or soft they are. Carrots I shredded, zucchini I left large; that way the veggies are done at the same time! Harder veggies take longer to cook; make them smaller and they’ll cook faster.
Basic Vegetable Soup Cooking tip 3:
Vegetable soup can be made very easily! it’s just water or vegetable stock and vegetables. No need to be intimidated. Use a ratio instead of a recipe. Try 4 parts raw vegetables: to 2 parts liquid. For example, 4 cups raw vegetables and 2 cups of water or vegetable stock. Combine in a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes, or until fork tender. Season your soup with salt and pepper. That just about covers how to make most vegan vegetable soups without recipes! Here’s the recipe for when you want to cook once and eat 14 times, or so…
- 2 T Olive oil
- 2 C Yellow or white Onions, finely diced
- 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 4 Cans Kidney beans, half mashed or pureed with liquid
- 1 Can white chili beans, rinsed, drained
- 1 28oz can Tomato puree
- 1 28oz can Petite diced tomatoes
- 2 28oz cans Tap water (use tomato cans to measure)
- 10-12 C Vegetables; 4 shredded carrots, 4 chopped celery stocks, large chopped zucchini, frozen yellow corn, 4 small gold potatoes, and trimmed green beans broken into 1 ½ “ lengths
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 t Dried thyme
- 1 t Italian seasoning herb blend
- 2 C Small elbow pasta
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- In a large stock pot, add olive oil to warm over med-low heat,
- Add onions, stirring occasionally, cooking for about 10 minutes, while chopping vegetables.
- Add garlic, stirring well, cook about 30 seconds longer, then add all the beans, tomatoes and water.
- Add vegetables, herbs (but, not salt or pepper) and stir well, increasing heat to med-high.
- Spoon off any excess foam as needed.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, reducing heat to medium.
- Add uncooked pasta and stir in; cooking for another ten minutes or until pasta is tender.
- Add salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve warm immediately, or cool, then refrigerate, and place in freezer for up to 3 months.
How about seeing some other soup recipes? I love the easy and creamy tomato soup recipe personally. One of the most popular is the Golden Turmeric soup recipe that’s smooth and creamy without the cream.
