A recipe to share
One of my favorite things about cold weather is getting to make huge pots of mostly improvisational soups. Here's the one from last night, which is both delicious and requires no particular skill to make. All quantities and ingredients can be altered or omitted to taste (the only reason I remember how much of anything I put in is that I made it so recently); substitutions are encouraged. This amount will feed two people for two or three days, but you're going to need a pretty massive pot.
olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 or 7 cloves of garlic, smushed and peeled but whole
4 stalks of celery, chopped (don't use the very bottom or the very top)
2 really big leeks, chopped (don't use the outer layer or the top half)
4 parsnips, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 russett potato, peeled and chopped
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup long-grain rice
2-3 tablespoons Better than Bouillion chicken base
Some unknown quantity of water
3-4 bay leaves
fresh chopped basil
fresh chopped parsley
salt, coarse-ground black and white peppercorns, and assorted dried herbs (I think I used basil, marjoram, and thyme) to taste
most of a package of bacon, fried until almost crispy and cut into bits
If you don't generally cook big meals, I recommend chopping all the veggies in advance to make your life easier--and don't do the onions until right before you cook them.
Heat maybe 3-4 tablespoons olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pot) on medium and cook the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring often enough so that they don't burn. Dump in the celery, garlic and leeks (with more olive oil if needed for all the veggies to be lightly coated) and cook, stirring maybe twice a minute, for another 3-4 minutes. Dump in the parsnips, potato, and carrots; stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Once the onions and leeks are looking pretty translucent (and hopefully not brown, though it won't really screw things up if they are), pour in the crushed tomatoes and the lentils and rice. Stir occasionally and cook until the whole thing starts to bubble. Put some of your fresh parsley, too.
Now, you can replace the chicken base (which is this awesome paste) with bouillion cubes, with broth (just cut the water down), or skip it entirely if you're willing to let the whole thing cook for at least and hour and a half so it gets more flavorful. Otherwise, add a few tablespoons/cubes/whatever, plus enough water to make what's in your pot liquidy enough to be soup and not porridge. If you're using concentrated bouillion or browth, don't bother trying to match it to the quantity of water--it's only there to add a bit more flavor. If things get too thick along the way, you can always another cup of water or two to compensate. Add your various seasonings--start with less than you think you need (especially on the salt) and give everything five minutes or so before you up the quantity. A pot of soup this large will be pretty forgiving, and more flavorful is better than less. Turn up the heat to medium high, and when it's bubbling pretty good, turn it down to low/medium low.
After about half an hour, or whenever the rice and lentils start looking mushy. Dump in the bacon, the fresh basil, more of the parsley, adjust the seasonings one last time, and voila--big pot of soup. Enjoy!
[celli, you might want to take a look at this--I think it'd be easy to make this uber-healthy (skip the meat and go with brown-rice) and if you can spare two hours over the weekend, it'll feed you for days.]
olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 or 7 cloves of garlic, smushed and peeled but whole
4 stalks of celery, chopped (don't use the very bottom or the very top)
2 really big leeks, chopped (don't use the outer layer or the top half)
4 parsnips, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 russett potato, peeled and chopped
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup long-grain rice
2-3 tablespoons Better than Bouillion chicken base
Some unknown quantity of water
3-4 bay leaves
fresh chopped basil
fresh chopped parsley
salt, coarse-ground black and white peppercorns, and assorted dried herbs (I think I used basil, marjoram, and thyme) to taste
most of a package of bacon, fried until almost crispy and cut into bits
If you don't generally cook big meals, I recommend chopping all the veggies in advance to make your life easier--and don't do the onions until right before you cook them.
Heat maybe 3-4 tablespoons olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pot) on medium and cook the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring often enough so that they don't burn. Dump in the celery, garlic and leeks (with more olive oil if needed for all the veggies to be lightly coated) and cook, stirring maybe twice a minute, for another 3-4 minutes. Dump in the parsnips, potato, and carrots; stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Once the onions and leeks are looking pretty translucent (and hopefully not brown, though it won't really screw things up if they are), pour in the crushed tomatoes and the lentils and rice. Stir occasionally and cook until the whole thing starts to bubble. Put some of your fresh parsley, too.
Now, you can replace the chicken base (which is this awesome paste) with bouillion cubes, with broth (just cut the water down), or skip it entirely if you're willing to let the whole thing cook for at least and hour and a half so it gets more flavorful. Otherwise, add a few tablespoons/cubes/whatever, plus enough water to make what's in your pot liquidy enough to be soup and not porridge. If you're using concentrated bouillion or browth, don't bother trying to match it to the quantity of water--it's only there to add a bit more flavor. If things get too thick along the way, you can always another cup of water or two to compensate. Add your various seasonings--start with less than you think you need (especially on the salt) and give everything five minutes or so before you up the quantity. A pot of soup this large will be pretty forgiving, and more flavorful is better than less. Turn up the heat to medium high, and when it's bubbling pretty good, turn it down to low/medium low.
After about half an hour, or whenever the rice and lentils start looking mushy. Dump in the bacon, the fresh basil, more of the parsley, adjust the seasonings one last time, and voila--big pot of soup. Enjoy!
[celli, you might want to take a look at this--I think it'd be easy to make this uber-healthy (skip the meat and go with brown-rice) and if you can spare two hours over the weekend, it'll feed you for days.]