Call-Into-Work-Sick Vegetable Soup (Vegan Soup!)
The Deliciousness
At the moment, I’m sick with the strep. Though I did try to take pictures of my swollen disgusting tonsils, I found it hard to do alone- you lucked out, internet. You’ll love this soup though, bacterial infection or not. Like all soups, it’s easy to make and takes on a very mutable base that can be changed to fit your needs. Mine, today were two-fold: empty out fridge and cabinets as we’re moving soon, and the need for something lightly spicy, healthy and served warm, mmmm. The recipe:
Here’s what I put in there (and you’ll see it scant on the veggies, but alas, tis what I had)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
2 bags frozen broccoli
1 tomato (cored and sliced into big or small pieces depending on your preference, taking off the skin now may be good- otherwise you’ll be digging them out later or running across weird stringy red things in the soup)
4-6 garlic cloves based on personal taste
2+ cans beans (I used one red, one black)
1/2 cup tomato paste
olive oil
salt for roasting
pepper to taste
healthy dash parsley
bay leaf
healthy dash cilantro
sprinkling ginger
red chili powder and/or Tony Chachere’s spice mix, which is EXCELLENT and/or Sriracha sauce (I used them all!)
soy sauce
dab of hoisin sauce
First thing to do is to roast half of the broccoli, all of the mixed veggies, the garlic and the tomato. This is done in the oven at 450 degrees on a roasting pan (sprinkle veggies with olive oil and salt) for about 30-45 minutes. Stir every 10-15 minutes, watch for browning and don’t let it get too crisp. They’ll be done when they’re crisp, not black, and smelling delicious. For me, this brings out the essence of deliciosity within vegetables which will really add to the broth.
While the veggies were roasting, I prepared the large pot that I would use to make the soup. The best pot will be one that will be a little less than half filled with all the veggies and beans when added in. In the pot I conservatively added all the other ingredients leaving room for adding more as needed. This too is when you decide whether or not you want to follow this recipe, feel free to leave some things out, though I was very happy with this particular spice mix.
When the veggies are ready, move them to the pot and add water to about an inch from the rim of the pot. Let it come to a boil and stir occasionally- do not cover. The broth will reduce, and depending on taste- add more water, or more of any of the ingredients. If it’s not as thick as you would like, add in some flour (which I prefer for thickening rather than corn starch, but either will work). After it’s done thickening to your desire (probably another 30-45 minutes), you will need to take out the bay leaf and the garlic cloves though the boy loves his garlic, so I kept it in as a delicious surprise for him. If you’re worried that a clove of garlic is too much for you, eat one that you’ve used similar to in this soup, they’re delicious!
Anyway, that’s basically it, and it’s a great base for any veggie soup, or even an opportunity to use up some pork or chicken before it goes bad.
Here are some things that would taste good in here that I did not have or choose to add:
Fresh ingredients, it makes everything better. You can’t beat fresh parsley in a soup! I would have probably added fresh basil as well.
Onions! I was out, and devastated (would taste GREAT roasted).
Carrots and celery- which I hate, but most people seem to love.
Bean sprouts, mmm- it would make this taste MORE similar to pho (minus the tomato undertones of the soup).
Less broccoli, although it was delicious in whole form, there were a bunch of little pieces from it that made the soup a bit stringy. Fresh broccoli may have cured this.
Potatoes! Probably would not roast them.
Anyway, if you want this closer to a curry, curry paste and/or coconut milk would not be out of the question, though to keep it creamy, I would limit the water and nix the tomato. Coconut milk is pretty fatty though, so beware!
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