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« The next generation | Main | Saying goodbye to the old Ritz » Wednesday, January 10, 2007Building a better vegetable soup
My theory about losing weight is that being hungry isn't the right way to do it. It makes you eat the wrong things when your blood sugar drops to the floor and you need something fast. For the moments when I walk into my house and want to grab anything, there's soup. Choose the vegetables you like, and build it like this: The aromatic roots go into the pot first. Drizzle the bottom of a large Dutch oven with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add a few chopped onions or leeks, several chopped stalks of celery, and about 8 chopped carrots with plenty of salt and pepper. Let them cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. This draws out their flavor. Then add 2 cups of crushed canned tomatoes and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop a half head of Savoy cabbage. Trim a half pound of green beans and cut them into 1-inch lengths. Halve 4 zucchini lengthwise and slice them thinly. Coarsely chop 1 peeled buternut squash. Add them all to the pot with enough water to cover them. You can use half water and half chicken stock, but with all these vegetables, water will give the soup plenty of flavor (it's the peasant way). Then add a large handful of chopped fresh thyme, parsley, or oregano. I think broccoli is too strong in vegetable soup. Frozen corn is fine, as are peas. Another good addition is a piece of Parmesan rind. It adds terrific flavor to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, partially cover the pot, and let the soup simmer for 50 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. When the pot cools, ladle the soup into smaller pots before refrigerating. That way, the soup is ready to reheat the second you want it. Not much skill necessary, and you'll be thrilled with the results. Posted by Sheryl Julian at 11:14 AM
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