CABBAGE SOUP!

Ginger Cabbage Soup!

It's easy!

And delicious!

I put these things in a blender:
steamed shallots (leftover)
basil (about an ounce)
ginger (a couple thumb sized pieces)
chives
almonds
cup or two of water
salt, pepper
olive oil

Then I put the blended bit in a big pot, and added these things, chopped:
leftover steamed cabbage with pine nuts
napa cabbage
shallots
baby carrots
chinese celery
ginger
almonds
salt, pepper, herb seasoning

Put it on the stove until the veggies are cooked to your liking. I think I left mine on for 20 minutes or so.

So my new basic soup recipe is essentially: herbs, shallots/onions, spices, ginger, et al blended with a nut for the base, with carrots and chinese celery floating around the soup for flavor, and other veggie swimming in there, in this case, cabbage and little shallots.

Super delicious!

Lentil "Barley" Soup?

Is there anything better to do when you're snowed in under 18 inches of powder than make a nice, big pot of soup? I've had a bag of frozen vegetables odds 'n' ends sitting in my freezer for a couple months and decided to finally turn it into stock. The bag included: muchrooms, scallions, peppers, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and probably a couple other random trimmings that I'm forgetting. I threw it all in my biggest pot, which isn't quite big enough for my tastes, tossed it with some olive oil, and sauteed for a bit before filling the pan with water, adding black pepper and aminos, and letting it simmer for almost 2 hours.

Once the stock was cooked and drained, I chopped up an onion, the rest of a bag of baby carrots from the fridge, and some celery, and sauteed that in the pot. I added the stock, the rest of a bag of lentils, and 1 cup of a mystery grain, which I'm reasonably sure is barley, and boiled it until the lentils and grains were cooked. I was pretty nervous that this would end up being a rather ho-hum soup, but I'm quite pleased with the results. Also a plus: the fact that I used a whole bunch of shit that I already had in the kitchen. That's probably the best things about making soup/stew/chili: no recipe needed, just throw in whatever you have on hand.