I’ve noted a large creep up on the scale. This is probably due to a very meat-centric diet, of late. To remedy that, I just cooked a big pot of veg soup. This will tide me over on lunch for the next couple of days, which will keep me available to enjoy the holidays!
A note on the Parmesan, I saw this on some cooking show, I just can’t remember which one! An easy way to get the most out of your Parmesan pieces is to reserve the crust and freeze them. Basically, when you buy a piece of Parmesan, there is always that last bit of hard darker brown crust, that usually is thrown away. Instead, reserve and freeze it. Then you can enhance the flavors of stock or soup by trimming, and then just letting it simmer with the soup. Later, just remove and discard the leftover piece. Now you have a greatly enriched soup!
Vegetable Soup
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1 med. onion julienne
2 stalks celery diced
3 med. carrot diced
4 oz. Crimini mushrooms diced
1 med. turnip diced
2 cups cooked farro
4 med. yukon gold potatoes diced
*peeled and cooked in the microwave for 5min on power-level 5
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp. dry oregano
2 tbsp dry basil
1 tbsp tarragon
2 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dry rosemary
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 can whole tomatoes
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag frozen green beans
1 bag frozen broccoli pieces
1 box Kitchen Basics Beef Broth
1 large piece reserved Parmesan crust
2 tbsp. Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a large stock pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Heat until fragrant. Saute onions dressed with salt and pepper to taste. After a minute add mushrooms. Allow to mushrooms to brown and breakdown, about 2 minutes. Add carrot, celery and saute for 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and mix to combine. As the tomato paste browns, add in spices; garlic, cayenne, oregano, basil, tarragon, bay leaf and rosemary. Stir to combine and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Open a can of whole tomatoes and pour off the juice into the pot and stir to combine. The tomato paste and the juice should begin to form a thick sauce. By hand, take the tomatoes from the can and hand crush into the pot. Stir and let cook for 1 minute. Add frozen vegetables; corn, green beans and broccoli. Add beef stock and stir to combine. Add Parmesan piece. Cook for 5 minutes. Add in farro and potatoes. The farro and the potatoes will help thicken the soup. Set heat to medium and let the pot simmer for 25min. When ready, remove the Parmesan and discard.
Serve with garlic bread or a cheese toasty.
Sounds yummy…I think I also heard about the parmesean…I was thinking it was on Rachel Ray! Not sure your Dad would want the broccoli; and he would want me to add meat…..lol…..What can I say….love you xoxoxo
Yeah, it isn’t totally meatless as I use Beef Stock. But then you could always add vegetable stock too. I highly recommend the kitchen basics stocks. http://www.kitchenbasics.net/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=kitchen%2Bbasics%2Bstock&utm_campaign=Kitchen%2BBasics_General
I use the beef and chicken all the time. I’ve tried the fish stock, but it was really strongly fishy. For recipes calling for fish stock, I will often use clam juice instead.
Yes I agree, clam juice is much preferable!
I like this very much, but as i’m currently not eating mammals, it’d need to be meatless; i have , in the past, found that if you need to eliminate beef stock, a good trick is to use veg stock, and add some richness back by adding worcester sauce to taste. No good for ‘proper’ vegetarians, as it contains anchovies, but i eat fish so no big deal. Here in the UK it IS possible to buy anchovy – free worcester sauce, too. I suppose if you are cooking this for proper vegetablists, you’d need to drop the parmesan too… or just not tell them!