You Got This!
Home Made Vegetable Soup
It's a cold and snowy day, I love it!
It's a perfect day to make some home made soup. I don't cook with a lot of measurements, I cook from my soul. I've been cooking for a long time. My Mom was the best at making soup, there was always a pot on the stove - yes, even in the summertime, my Dad really loved soup.
I don't want to brag or anything but I'm pretty good at making soup too. Today I decided to take a few pictures and give you my recipe....
Cut up some Onions, Carrots and Celery.
I like to make a big pot of soup so I use 1 Large Onion, 2 Carrots, 3 Stalks of Celery and a couple of Potatoes.
I don't use the Baby (processed) Carrots, I use our own home grown carrots or other local carrots. They are the best tasting, they are fresh and sweet. Oh, and by the way I just cut the ends off the carrots and then chop them up. I don't peel them. At the end of our season, just before we close our On Farm Market for the winter I make sure I have a couple of 50lb bags of potatoes and onions. That will usually take me to the end of January, after that I have to go to the grocery store...
So, throw your Carrots, Celery and Onions into a big pan with about a Tablespoon of Butter or Olive Oil or both.
Saute them. Throw in a can of Chick Peas and saute them as well. Everything will soften up.
Now, if you put some Tomatoes in the freezer or if you canned some Tomatoes, you need to get them. Open the jar and throw them in or run some hot water over your frozen bag. It will defrost fast, just a couple of minutes is usually all you need to open the bag and the Tomatoes will come right out.
I used frozen tomatoes today and I have to say I feel like a Rock Star. I do! I do because it makes me feel good knowing we planted, nurtured, and harvested these tomatoes. And then in the craziness of the fall - we still managed to put some down for the winter. For days like today. You can use them for all sorts of things but, today, its soup.
At this point you are going to put some water in the pan. I usually just use my emptied out Chick Pea can and throw in about 3 cans. OR put in enough water so that you are almost covering up the tomatoes OR about 2 inches from the top of the pan.
Get out your Garlic press and make sure to use Local Ontario Garlic. And yes, I usually make sure I save myself about an 11 quart basket of Garlic before we close for the season. Whatever you do make sure it's local - don't use it from you know where....
Yes, I froze some Kale. It's what I do. Perfect for Smoothies, Stew, and yeah, Soups. I froze mine in an ice cube tray...
You can use fresh Kale or even Spinach. If you use Spinach just put it in at the end.
All you need to do now is bring it to a full boil. Once it gets ther turn it down and cook for about an hour.
Make this soup the way you want to. Add salt and Pepper. Add any other seasonings you like. If you want, put in some pasta. if you want put in some Beef or Chicken Broth. If you want put in some Beef or Chicken you had left over from dinner last night that no one wants to eat anyway. If you want...
Never Say Never even if you've never made home made soup before. You Got This!
Shirley
