Almost Spring Soup, aka stretching the pantry in a time of need

Serves 4

We’ve all been in this position: you’re 5 or 6 days overdue on a trip to the grocery store, there’s no time to go, maybe you’re feeling a little under the weather (I’m being assaulted by a spring cold as I write this), and you really need something nourishing and fresh. What’s in the fridge? Hmm…some celery that could be used as string to tie up packages, a few carrots…virtually nothing else. Even though I’m dreaming of the wonderful vegetables that come with spring gardens, I don’t have any of them yet. Time to turn to the pantry.

We all know that frozen vegetables are picked at their peak of ripeness and frozen within a few hours. At least that’s what the people on the Food Network tell us. But many vegetables get tough and gummy when frozen, so I only keep around the ones that either defy that trend, or that I know I can puree or bake into some other dish. In other words, I tend to favor spinach, peas, corn, and green beans. Another frozen staple: the on-going bag of vegetable bits. All of my nubbins, peels, leaves and stalks that don’t end up in the composter get tossed into a freezer bag and saved for days like this. A homemade vegetable broth will elevate frozen-vegetable-soup to something delightful and healthful.

In this bag I had onion and garlic skins, celery tops/bottoms, parsley stems and squash nubbins. I simmered this mix for about an hour in about 5 C water, then strained.

 

Now the soup. Potatoes are great for soup that you’re going to puree because they give it body and creaminess. After that pretty much any vegetable will do.

5 C broth

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

about 1 1/2 sliced carrots

1 onion, chopped

Simmer this mix for about 20 minutes, until carrots and potatoes are getting tender.

Add your frozen vegetables (basking here, looking like a portrait of frosted-over springtime):

 

Simmer 10-12 more minutes until vegetables are tender. Puree about 3/4 of the vegetables in the food processor with a few tablespoons of milk. Add the puree back into the pot. Season with salt and pepper, serve with a little dollop of sour cream.

End of Winter Meatball Soup with Kale

Serves 8

  

Originally this recipe was for Portuguese meatball soup, but I admit that I’ve jimmied it so much that it would probably be a genuine travesty to call it Portuguese. Nonetheless, it is truly delicious, and you should hurry up and try it because the spring weather is rolling in and there won’t be many chilly days left during which a bowl of this thick, flavorful loveliness will be just what you’re looking for!

Meatballs:

For now, use your favorite meatball recipe. I’m really kicking myself because these meatballs were something special—the recipe came from the real-live ITALIAN MAMA of my office mate Sylvia, and I can’t for the life of me find the piece of paper that she scrawled the recipe on ! So stay tuned; hopefully it will turn up, or Sylvia will have the gentillesse to reproduce it for me. However, I'm pretty sure that her meatballs were fundamental to this soup flavor, so I'll tell you this: there was about a cup of finely grated parmesan mixed into the meats, and the balls were cooked with sauteed onions and bell peppers (I used yellow and orange), that cooked long enough that they nearly broke down into a light sauce. I put ALL of this goo into the soup along with the meatballs. Anyway, MAKE your meatballs, and set them aside until you’re almost done with the soup. Here are my Italian lovelies:

Soup:

2 Tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 C diced celery

1 1/2 C sliced carrots

1 large russet potato, cubed (original recipe said to peel it, but I like the taste of the peel so I just scrubbed it well and put it in as is)

6 C broth (I used vegetable and chicken)

1 lb kale, stems and center ribs removed, thinly sliced

1/2 recipe of above meatballs

1/2 C fresh Italian parsely, chopped

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium low heat for 4-5 minutes. Add celery and cook 4-5 minutes longer. The deep flavor of the soup comes from letting these vegetables caramelize a bit, so don’t scrimp on the time here. Add the carrots, potatoes and broth. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes:

Here are the sliced kale and meatballs, ready to go. Add them to the pot and simmer 7 more minutes.

Add the chopped parsley and simmer 4-6 minutes longer until the flavor permeates the soup. Serve with some seriously crusty, delicious bread!

Even Sawyer liked this soup (well, parts of it)—and that’s really saying something.

Borscht

 

There’s not much more to say besides: I love borscht. I can’t even remember where I first had it but, to me, everything about it is bliss. I love the color, the vinegary flavor, the excuse for a dollop of sour cream. I like my borscht to be very hearty, especially in the vegetable department. You can adjust the meat-vegetable ratio, or cut down the vegetable quantities, if you like a brothier soup, or if you’re one of those unfortunate people who suffers from the potentially flatulent properties of cooked cabbage. If so, I pity you, I pity you.

2 lbs cubed beef for stew

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 C beef pr vegetable broth

3 medium beets, peeled and cubed

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced (optional—I haven’t seen celery in any recipes, but I’m such a celery nut right now that I can’t help adding it…)

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (optional—I’ve seen potatoes in a lot of versions of borscht, but potatoes aren’t my favorite so I don’t usually use them—your choice!)

1/2 head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp anise seeds

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 (8 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 teaspoon white sugar, or to taste

4-5 Tbs white vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream and fresh or dried dill to garnish

Get out your giant soup cauldron and start by browning your beef in the tablespoon of oil. When it’s fragrant and golden, remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon and add the onions and garlic to the pot with the remaining oil/juices. Sauté until translucent. Add the broth to the pot, then the remaining vegetables and the bay leaves. If you have the means, crush or grind the seeds (even the handle of your knife with the back of your palm can make a big difference in opening up the flavors) before adding them to the pot with the browned beef. Cover and simmer 40 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (tomato paste, diced tomatoes, sugar and vinegar) and simmer 20 minutes longer. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dill.

Gingered Cream of Chicken Soup

I did give this a try a day or two ago, but it needs a little work. If anyone is a master of creams soups, I’m ready for a tutorial. Pregnant or not, I’ve never liked really thick creamy soups, and usually use half and half and lots of broth to create something really light. When I had finished this soup, however, I realized that what I was craving was in fact a full-on cream soup, which, in retrospect, would have needed a roux and some milk…and a whole different approach.

What I made was tasty, though not particularly creamy, but I did love the combination of ginger and cream. Here’s what I did: Put a whole chicken in a pot of water (2 inches above the chicken) with an onion, some celery and 5 oz. of sliced ginger. I simmered this for about three hours, removed the chicken, strained the broth, and put them both in the fridge to cool. A few hours later I was able to remove the meat from the chicken and skim the fat off the top of the broth. From there I added carrots to the broth and let them simmer for 12 minutes, then added chopped chicken and one pint of heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Next time I do this I’m going to take a different approach. I’ll use milk instead of broth and will simmer it with the cream and the ginger. In the meantime I’ll sauté some onion and celery, then puree them with the milk-cream (ginger removed). Then I’ll make a roux, add a little broth, then the milk-cream and some cooked chicken.

Does anyone have any recommendations?