March 29, 2005

Thick Vegetable Soup

Description:
A hearty soup that's fairly easy to make and yummy to eat. Feel free to adjust ingredients and herbs to taste (or based on what you happen to have lying around).

Ingredients:
water
3 medium sized russet potatoes (never use waxy potatoes in soup -- it makes the soup gummy)
3 - 5 carrots
1 medium - large onion
1 - 5 cloves of garlic (the more the merrier, i think. but add as little or much as you want)
2 vegetable bouillon cubes (i usually use one with salt and one without. that way i can add more salt to taste without the soup getting too salty.)
salt, pepper and marjoram (or other favorite herb) to taste
1 c. mushrooms (any kind you want)
1 c. corn (frozen works fine)
1 c. whipping cream or half and half (or milk)

Directions:
cut up the potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic into large chunks. (1 inch or so across). toss them all into a large soup pot and add enough water to rise an inch or two above the items in the pot. (i'm very imprecise when it comes to adding water. if the soup seems too thick later you can always add more. at a minimum you want enough to cover everything in the pot.)

add the two bouillon cubes and boil over medium high heat until a knife (or fork) run easily through both carrots and potatoes. turn off the heat.

put everything through the blender. (i usually do a bit at a time and put the blended stuff into a bowl until the soup pot is empty and i can pour iti back in there.) if you're using waxy potatoes (red, yukon, etc.) this is where they'll start to get gummy and you'll realize your mistake.

if you want, you can stop right here and you'll basically have a creamy potato/carrot soup. (you may still want to add the cream/milk, but i've made this many a time with none at all.)

add the mushrooms, corn, salt, pepper and marjoram (or thyme or sage or ...) and heat on low until the shrooms and corn are no longer frozen/cold. add the cream/milk last.

you could probably just as happily add broccoli, cauliflower or any other vegetable that you'd prefer. i like to add corn because my kids love it and it sweetens up the soup a bit.

16 comments:

  1. Ok, I'm not much of a vegetarian, I try to balance, but this definately sounds good.

    Going to have to try it some day soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. kelly just sent me this suggestion (via email):

    If you add the frozen corn right before serving the soup, it makes a good ice
    cube to cool your kids' soup down with. Consequently we add frozen corn to
    EVERY soup we make, even clam chowder! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love chunky vege soups. I detest mushrooms, though. I refuse to eat fungus :P

    Carrots, Walla Walla Onion, Bamboo Shoots, Water Chestnuts, SNOW PEAS (hehe), Broccoli bits (not too big)...little bits of Roma maters...I like adding a dsah of boston steak spice and a pinch of garlic powder to mine since Im not a big salt/pepper fan (pun there if you can find it!). Sometimes kidney beans goes in well, too, but not always. I detest foliage veges in soups tho like cabbage/lettuce etc. I dont like the slimy feel to them after theyve been cooked as opposed to a fresh romaine salad (mmmm..).

    Edit:

    Oh, totally missed the first ingredient. I really really really really really like baby red taters even though they can sometimes cost more. They taste so good cooked into chunklets!

    Im ruining the recipe, huh? Recipes are so fun to refine to personal taste lol (or for others).

    ReplyDelete
  4. everything you suggest sounds good to me Except the red taters. i've made potato soup with waxy potatoes (red, purple, yukon gold, etc.) and the soup seems rather gluey.

    on the other hand, i just bought some red taters for some yummy potato salad (with oil and vinegar, not mayo). yum!

    do you fry your potato chunklets up? with onions? butter? chives?

    ReplyDelete
  5. boiled seperately then added at end


    Im so hungry now lol. Im gonna blame you when I make soup this week ya know :)

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  6. Damn you guys are making me hungry. :)

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  7. geez, i only posted this recipe here because there's no longer a recipe feature in the groups and i thought the vegetarian group might be interested in the recipe. i just figured i'd subject all the rest of you to it for the fun of it.

    little did i know i'd start a veggie soup fest. smiley('mad');

    ReplyDelete
  8. I blame Betty for teaching me to use the word blame in such a fun way =D I also blame cooked veges for tasting so good.

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  9. I'm a garlic fanatic, I'm thinking a whole bulb here! (grin)

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  10. especially if you roast it in the oven first so it goes all soft & sweet...

    No first date recipe then, but very good none the less :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. here's rick's modification of my soup (and apprently rob said it had more flavor than mine):

    "I sauteed the garlic and onions before I added them to the boiling potatoes and
    carrots with bullion cubes - then I sauteed the mushrooms and broccoli and
    added them to the pureed stuff, then I added frozen corn and frozen peas - salt
    and lots of pepper and thyme."

    ReplyDelete
  12. hmmm, bullion is like condensed flavor plus lots of salt.

    if you boil chicken for awhile, and add salt, and make a broth, then you dehydrate it, that's chicken bullion. you can do it with beef or veggies or mushrooms.

    i wonder why i've never seen pork bullion.

    ReplyDelete

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