Quick, Tasty, Simple Veggie Soups

Raid Your Cupboards: On-Hand Stuff for Two Fantastic One-Pot Meals

© Laura Harrison McBride

Aug 27, 2008

What do you do with the leftover bits and pieces in your fridge? Half of a cucumber, a few aging tomatoes? Do what James J. Donlon of Brooklyn, NY, has done for years; make "Nothing Soup." There is no recipe for this soup since it's made from all the "nothing" in your fridge. But here's the recipe anyway.

Nothing Soup

Ingredients:

• Leftover, still-usable vegetables, fresh or originally frozen, in your fridge preferably including celery and tomatoes for flavor
• A potato (or two), if available
• 1 quart vegetable bouillon, cubed and prepared, or boxed
• Two tablespoons dried herbs of choice (good combinations are basil and oregano if you have a lot of tomatoes, or chervil and cilantro if you have a lot of cucumbers and red or green peppers)
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 or 2 onions (white, red, or yellow), chopped
• Two tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: ,handful of small pasta shapes, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, flour/water roux, butter or buttery spread if you're a vegan.

Directions:

1. Round up the still-usable fresh vegetables in your fridge before you toss them out. Chop into bite-size pieces.
2. Peel and chop the potato if you have one.
3. Sauté onions and garlic in oil until soft or slightly browned for more flavor in bottom of large pot or Dutch oven.
4. Add the vegetables you've chopped and cook slightly.
5. Add the bouillon, herbs and salt and pepper.
6. Simmer for at least 20 minutes, adding the pasta shapes, if you have them, halfway through the time.
7. Taste. If it is too bland, add a splash of balsamic vinegar or a dollop of tomato paste, or both. If it is too watery, boil until some liquid has evaporated.Or thicken by adding, in increments until the desired consistency is reached, a roux of 4 tablespoons water to 2 tablespoons flour. You can also add a knob of butter or buttery spread if you have thickened the soup to make it sil kier.
8. Serve hot with crusty bread.

White Bean and Escarole Soup

This soup is patterned after a soup once served in a long-gone Italian restaurant in Key West, Florida. There, it was served as an appetizer. However, it also makes a simple, hearty one-dish vegetarian dinner.

Ingredients:

• Two to three cans cannellini beans or white northern beans or white kidney beans
• Four to six cups bouillon, vegetable, chicken or beef, from cubes or boxed or canned
• One large head escarole, chopped into 2-inch pieces (or large bag of washed spinach unchopped, or, in a pinch, one or two boxes frozen spinach)
• Two cloves garlic
• White wine or white balsamic vinegar
• Dried oregano
• Parmesan cheese (or vegetarian grated cheese substitute)
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the garlic and sauté in a tablespoon or two of olive oil until just tender, not browned.
2. Add the escarole or spinach, or defrosted, drained frozen spinach.
3. If using escarole, add a handful at a time, stirring over medium-high heat until wilted.
4. If using fresh spinach, follow the same process, although the adding, stirring and wilting will be quicker as spinach is tenderer than escarole.
5. If using defrosted frozen spinach, press out as much liquid as possible in a colander, and add to pot, stirring until it is warmed.
6. Add canned beans, liquid and all.
7. Add a large splash of white wine or a slightly smaller splash of white balsamic vinegar
8. Add the bouillon, adjusting as you go depending on whether you like a thin or thicker soup.
9. Add the oregano.
10. Bring to a simmer, and allow to simmer for about ten or fifteen minutes, until all flavors are blended.
11. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese or Parmesan cheese substitute.

Nothing Soup

Organic Boule, Perfect With Both Soups

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