Just Make Soup

Potato and Leek Soup with tofu bacon and green onion

Soup has become my go to because you can put anything in it. Remember the old folk story about "Stone Soup" It's super simple to make and it's all about the things you like to eat.

Here's a basic method for making approximately 4 servings.
Decide on a vegetable or fruit, you can even use two or more complementary vegetables and fruit. You will need approximately 2 - 2 1/2 cups. If you are using 2 items you can split them equally or add more of one and less of the other. Here are some things that work well together:

Potatoes and Onions (or Leeks)
Tomatoes and Summer Squash
Apples and Sweet Potatoes
Pears and Parsnips

Butternut squash, tomato, cauliflower and carrots are great on their own.
Ahead of time, make your vegetable broth. Sometimes I'm good and make my own, sometimes I just use the organic, low sodium cubes. You will need two cups.

Saute your aromatics first. Aromatics include onion and garlic. Secondary aromatics are celery and carrots. You will need about 1/2 cup of onion and 1-2 cloves of garlic (depends of your love of garlic, mine is high!). One carrot or celery rib if you are adding those. Adding celery and carrot is best reserved for a single vegetable or fruit soup.

Garden fresh tomatoes and summer squash

To saute, use 1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter. The butter will allow you to saute at a higher heat point. If you are making a curried soup or using mild vegetables or fruit, coconut oil is best. You can also use a safflower or grape seed oil. You don't want the taste of the oil to dominate your main vegetables or fruit.

Consider how much onion flavor you want in your soup. Onions with pungent flavor will also fill your soup with that flavor. My scale for onion pungent flavor from high to low is:

White
Yellow
Red
Shallots
Green Onions
Leeks

There are also sweet onions but I don't use these in my soup. I prefer red, shallots and leeks for soup.
Here's a recipe for tomato and Summer squash soup.
Saute 1/2 cup of diced leeks in extra virgin olive oil and butter. Salt and pepper to taste. When leeks are translucent, add garlic and cook an additional minute until you smell the flavor of the garlic. Don't burn the garlic!

As soon as you smell the garlic flavor, add your broth and your vegetables, 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup diced squash. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Add your herbs, 1/2 tablespoon of basil and parsley. Use 1/2 teaspoon if your herbs are dried.

If you use fresh herbs to spice your soup, always reserve some for the end.
Let your soup simmer for about 20 - 30 minutes partially covered. When the vegetables are soft, it's ready to puree. Add small portions to a blender or food processor. The steam builds up in the appliance and will blow the top off and soup will go everywhere. (Hot, painful mess)

Taste your soup for seasoning. You may need to add a little more salt and pepper.  Serve soup and toss in fresh herbs. You can also grate some Parmesan for your tomato and squash soup and add a little fresh basil.

Soup is easy. Experiment and have fun. You can always use a different broth, like chicken or beef and you can add meat to it if you like. I would used a precooked meat.

*Personal Note: If you are making a curried soup, I suggest using hearty vegetables and fruit. Apples, fall squash, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potatoes and potatoes work well. Use a high quality curry powder or Garam masala. Start with 1/2 tablespoon and add more if needed to suit your taste. You can find high quality curry powder and Garam masala in the bulk section of Central Market and other health conscious grocery stores.

Butternut Squash soup

Just Cook!

I was a late bloomer when it came to cooking. I could put a meal together but it lacked creativity and I didn't know any techniques or flavor profiles. My abilities included boiling pasta and nuking pre-made pasta sauce and green beans. Voila, dinner. After my daughter was born, I decided that cooking was something I wanted to conquer.

Whole Foods Demonstration Kitchen

At that time, I didn't realize that I was on a different journey, one that made me creative, adaptable and rewarded me with self-confidence. Thank you Food Network for providing wonderful programs that broke down the steps to make a meal. You were my personal trainer and there was no one to judge me in my own kitchen while I experimented. I eventually weened myself from making Mario's,  Rachel's, an Emeril's meals and ventured out on my own.

My big take away from the Food Network was to build a pantry and I did. The other take way was to go to the grocery store and find ingredients that provoked my interest. I would come home and google recipes. I would then combine 2-3 recipes based on the other ingredients I had in my pantry and my family's tastes. More often then not, they were a hit.

I  took on making gravy, pan searing, sauteing, braising and even making bread from scratch.  I planned elaborate Thanksgiving meals. Timing was one of the hardest obstacles for me. The Thanksgiving meals beat me up the first couple of years. I learned I needed 2-3 days of advance planning and preparation to make it all come together. The prep work has now become one of my favorite parts of cooking. I find it strangely relaxing with added benefit of getting to smell garlic on my hands for a few hours.

Masala Meal and Spices

In this journey, I have gained the courage and confidence to go outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself in new ways. I've joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I get fresh produce each week that I have to figure out how to prepare. I don't know what it will be so my challenge is to make a meals that utilizes the fresh produce and make it sing the same song.

Cooking classes have been my other challenge. Fall Vegetarian was my first hands-on cooking class. Surprisingly I was one of the more seasoned cooks. I was familiar with all the techniques we were using. I knew NOT to put all of your hot soup in the blender with the lid on and blend it…(That's another hot messy blog)  When it came to making the béchamel for our ravioli, I had no fear. It was great experience and I highly recommend taking a hands-on or a demonstration cooking class. The pictures posted are from the 1st class I took. It was an Indian Garam Masala class with instructor, Chaya Rao.

Chaya Rao-Instructor

In my journey to conquer cooking, I've learned that cooking is not a battle. Yes, some dishes are winners, some dishes are losers. Ultimately, learning to cook is an investment of your time to discover the cook you were meant to be. The best part of cooking is that it builds on experience, the more you cook, the better you get at it.

Sorse Baingan - Eggplant w/ mustand sauce