Whatever You Want Soup

My aunt made it every Sunday night.
She called it Weekly Review

Have you been looking into my kitchen? Every so often I do Step One and then go mining in my refrigerator and freezer for whatever I've been pushing out of my way day after day. All goes into the pot with that stray parsnip, wilting escarole, errant frozen slice of meatloaf, whatever. Add some miniature pastas if on hand. So long as the broth is well seasoned and the bread is first rate, contentment reigns at the dinner table.

I have a friend, much cannier than I, who saves (freezes) all her vegetable-cooking water, all her vegetable trimmings, and any such left-overs, and turns them magically into soups.

Too funny....we used to call this garbage soup (admittedly not a great name), I do the same thing as your friend, but I also use some saved starchy water from pasta or boiled potatos. It makes an awesome base for soup. Add some frozen spinach or shredded arugula, and a few tablespoons of good jarred tomatoe sauce and winter soup is done.

Fifty years ago when we were young and poor, we had refrigerator soup every Saturday night. He still thinks I am a great cook.

Emptied the fridge --- wilted chard, tired celery and carrots--- and the pantry --- old sweet potato, a handful of red lentils--- with onion and garlic and chicken stock and a dash of Frank's hot sauce---
A half hour or so? And everyday magic, it was soup! Delicious, easy, and could go in dozens of directions.
I generally need hand holding and specific directions but this emboldened even me, can't wait to try out variations on a reliable basic theme.

A squeeze of lemon or lime takes this to another dimension! I cook a few cups of rice at a time and then freeze small portions for an always-on-hand gluten free starch.

A friend christened this technique "deja stew" when she was growing up.

For an extra delicious broth, rehydrate some dried porcini mushrooms while you're chopping the rest of the veggies, and add the soaking liquid to the stock. Chop and add the mushrooms with the rest of the veggies. Delicious!

My granny taught me to make this, she called it "Stone Soup", the story was that you can make soup out of a stone, just put the stone in a pot, then poke around in the cupboard/fridge, add some onion, and some garlic if you have it, fry it up til it smells good, add some celery and/or carrot... a potato if you have it... top it up with water or stock, add in some greens... some pasta if you like... any leftover meat from a roast.. server with bread and lots of salty butter et voila stone soup

I am well known for "refrigerator soup" If it's veg/meat/leftovers in the fridge and turning south it goes in. My favorite leftovers, enchiladas, spaghetti, lasagna, beef stew are prime candidates. Never drain the cans of beans (that's broth!) and never throw out the ketchup/salsa bottle without rinsing it out for soup. Peels from veggies go in a milk cartons in the freezer to use for stock. My favorite stock is the juice left over from peeling tomatoes for canning.

My version of this has herbs de Provence for flavor and fresh parsley sprinkled on top when served. Another option I use is fresh sweet Italian chicken sausage dropped in as mini meatballs (use a melon baller). Finally, I like whole wheat orzo as a starch in this soup.

My husband has been making versions of this soup, as well as a pasta sauce, for years. We call it "fridge soup" or "fridge pasta." Never use water, only stock and/or wine.

Nothing says meditation for me more than mise en place. Prepping, then adding each bowl of organic vegetables to the pot is a joy and the result is healthy and deeply satisfying. Today’s combination came out perfect! Onions, garlic, celery, carrots, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, chipotle powder, oregano, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, black beans, vegetable stock and a bundle of cilantro stems (to be removed). I topped each bowl with a dollop of Greek yogurt and cilantro leaves.

My mother used to make this, in the 50s and 60s in England. We called it "Mummy Mixture". Different every time!