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15 Veggie Soup

Posted on: Monday, January 2nd, 2012
Comments: 9

A recent and somewhat alarming discovery led to the creation of this soup.

A couple of weeks back now I discovered that I was spending about $10 a day on my lunch from Au Bon Pain. A bowl of 12 veggie soup, a small roll, and a drink – about $10. The soup is so tasty but $10 a day for lunch adds up to about $200 per month and there are clearly many other things that I would prefer to spend $200 on besides soup and bread. So I decided to make my own.

For this recipe I started with the original 12 vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, leeks, zucchini, yellow squash, diced tomatoes, edamame, broccoli, potatoes, corn, and mushrooms) and added okra, spinach and green beans to make 15 veggie soup. I just calculated the cost of the recipe out and the total cost is $18.26 per recipe which ends up being about $1.52 per 8oz serving…which is a pretty significant savings from the ABP version. I got many of the calculations from this website http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ this is a GREAT resource for tasty recipes on a budget!

Recipe: 15 Veggie Soup

Ingredients

Onions – 1 small diced
Carrots – 1/2 cup sliced or 12-15 baby carrots sliced
Celery – 3 stalks rinsed and sliced
Green Beans – 1/2 cup (fresh or frozen)
Leeks – 1 cup sliced
Zucchini – 1 small zucchini rinsed and sliced
Yellow squash – 1 small rinsed and sliced
Okra – 1/2 cup sliced (I used frozen because fresh is a little harder to come by above the Mason Dixon)
Corn – 1 cup kernels (fresh or frozen)
Diced tomatoes (28 oz can) with liquid
28 oz pureed tomatoes
Edamame – 1/2 cup shelled
Broccoli – 1 cup florets chopped (fresh)
Potatoes – 3-4 small white potatoes diced (with or without the skin)
Mushrooms – 1-2 cups sliced
Spinach – 2-3 cups baby spinach leaves
64 oz vegetable broth
Olive oil – 2 tablespoons
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions

In a large saucepan with a lid, cook the onions in the olive oil on medium/high heat for about 5-7 minutes until slightly translucent and brown around the edges.
Remove the lid, add the salt and pepper, stir, and then add the carrots, celery, and green beans and stir. Cook with the lid off for another 5 minutes.
Add leeks, zucchini, yellow squash, okra, corn, tomatoes (diced and pureed), edamame, broccoli, potatoes, and the vegetable stock (and the lid).
Allow the soup to come to a full boil and then turn the temperature to low heat and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
Turn the heat off but allow pot to remain on the burner. Add the spinach and mushrooms and allow greens to wilt before serving (about 5-10 minutes)
Serve the soup with some fresh bread and call it a day!
This recipe makes a ton of soup….about 12 (8-10 oz) servings. It is perfect for freezing in individual containers.

And now for something completely different…

Whenever my husband and I are at a party and an awkwardly silent moment settles in, he will almost definitely blast out a question or (series of questions) to rescue us from the silence…

Here are some questions to shatter those awkward silences:

What is the funniest thing that you have ever seen?
What are you reading lately?
Do you love what you do for work? (If you choose not to answer this one I think I might know why)

Happy New Year!

Vegan Kale Soup

Posted on: Monday, October 3rd, 2011
Comments: 3

Vegan Kale Soup

Ingredients

1/2 large yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup carrots peeled and sliced
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
8 cups of organic vegetable stock
1/2 cup great northern beans (dry)
6-8 cups of kale leaves, rinsed and chopped
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large saucepan with a lid, cook the onions in the olive oil on medium/high heat for about 5-7 minutes until slightly translucent and brown around the edges.
Remove the lid, add the salt and pepper, stir, and then add the carrots and stir. Cook with the lid off for another 5 minutes.
Add potatoes, beans, and the vegetable stock (and the lid).
Allow the soup to come to a full boil and then turn the temperature to low heat and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
Turn the heat off but allow pot to remain on the burner. Add the kale and allow greens to wilt before serving (about 5-10 minutes)
Serve the soup!
This recipe makes about 8 (8 oz) servings. It is perfect for freezing in individual containers.

Minestrone Soup with Cheese Tortellini

Posted on: Monday, January 24th, 2011
Comments: 10

When we woke up this morning (in Providence, RI) the temperature was -2. There’s nothing amusing at all about arctic air. When the high temperature for the day is below zero, I can think of only two ways to make the day instantly better…

If money is no object, purchase last minute air fare to a tropical climate.
If money is an object, make a hearty soup.

Since money was an object, I went for #2. This soup is incredibly hearty and one of Kevin’s favorites.

Minestrone Soup with Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper (to taste)
4 carrots
4 celery stalks
4 potatoes, red bliss, diced
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
Chicken stock (organic, reduced sodium, no MSG)
1.5 cups of cheese tortellini

Directions

In a large saucepan with a lid, cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil on medium/high heat for about 5-7 minutes until slightly translucent and brown around the edges.
Remove the lid, add the salt and pepper, stir, and then add the carrots, celery, and potatoes, stir, and cook with the lid for another 5 minutes.
Add the diced and crushed tomatoes, stir, and then add the chicken stock.
Allow the soup to come to a full boil and then turn the temperature to low-medium heat and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes.
Add the cheese tortellini and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender and tortellini is al dente.
Serve the soup
This recipe makes about 8-10 (8 oz) servings. It is perfect for freezing in individual containers.

Simple Chicken Chili

Posted on: Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Comments: 2

Holy smokes, today is December 1st!

I had planned to cook and photograph 4 different recipes today, but plans changed. I decided to do nothing instead. Sometimes you have to stop and do nothing. I’m not talking about being lazy, just taking time to rest.

Today, instead of cooking, I rested and listened to a message by Rob Bell about Advent. You may be thinking, “what could Advent possibly have to do with a recipe for chili?”. As it turns out, very little. Nevertheless, the message was hopeful and encouraging, and let’s be honest, who couldn’t use a side of hope and encouragement with their chili?

Sometimes the month of December is stressful, chaotic, and basically the exact opposite of what Advent is intended to be. It is easy to lose the anticipation and excitement that children have because we load ourselves with responsibility and never take time to rest.

Mini Confession #1: I don’t take enough time to rest and as a result, I can get easily discouraged.

If you are at all like me in that you feel tired and discouraged because you have unfulfilled dreams and desires that you are barely hanging onto…hang on! I am saying this mostly to myself because it’s easy to forget that those dreams and desires are there for a reason – a very good reason.

Mini Confession #2: Sometimes I make chili just so I can eat lots of toppings…especially the avocado and fresh cilantro.

I’ve heard some people say “cilantro tastes like soap”, but the way I see it, there are really only two kinds of people in this world – those who like cilantro and those who should.

If I could encourage you to do two things today it would be these two:

Take 30 minutes to really rest and listen to this message by Rob Bell. You won’t regret it.
Make this chili.

Simple Chicken Chili

Ingredients

1 medium onion (diced)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pound of ground chicken
Salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon each used to season the onions)
1 cup of corn kernels
1 can (15 oz) of organic kidney beans
1 can (15 oz) of organic garbanzo beans
1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes (no added seasonings)
1 small can (6 oz) of tomato paste (optional)
1 can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon of salt or to taste
½ teaspoon of freshly cracker black pepper or to taste
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
Toppings (scallions, avocado, diced tomatoes, diced cilantro, diced red onion, shredded cheddar cheese, low-fat sour cream, etc.)

Directions

In a large saucepan with a lid, cook the onions in the olive oil (about 5 minutes until slightly translucent and brown around the edges), and then add the salt and pepper.
Add the ground chicken and then cook on medium-high heat until fully cooked (meat will be white-ish and opaque in color).
Add the beans and corn.
Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste along with the spices.
Allow the soup to come to a complete boil and then turn the temperature to low-medium heat and continue to cook for 20 minutes.
Serve the soup topped with shredded cheddar cheese, avocado, scallions, diced cilantro, diced tomatoes, diced red onion, and sour cream.
This recipe make a bunch of chili….maybe 8-10 (8 oz) servings. It is perfect for freezing in individual containers.