This may be one of the easiest things to cook, even if you have no idea what you are doing. In addition to saving money, homemade broth tastes so much better than store-bought broth. You will never go back. You will become a prisoner to your broth.
First, get a few gallon sized freezer-safe ziplock bags. If you are a meat eating person, label one "meat," and label the other "veg scraps." All week long, save all your veggie scraps in that bag and keep it in the freezer. Examples of veggie scraps are: carrot skin peelings, tops/bottoms of onions, tops of leeks, broccoli stumps, greens, lettuce hearts, mushroom stems, celery leaves...I mean all of it. Any leftover raw vegetable or it's parts. It's ok if it looks gross. It will look gross.
Do the same with your meats. Some folks like to separate their meat into different bags (chicken/beef/pork), while others like to mix them. Keep all scraps, fat, bones, skin, etc in your bag in the freezer.
On the weekend, throw all your scraps into a very large cooking pot. Cover the whole thing with water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer. Now simmer that pot as long as you can--at least 1 hour. If you can, put it on the lowest heat and cook it for 2-3 hours.
After cooking, you will need to strain it. I find this to be a 2 person job usually. Put another large pot in the sink, and cover it with a colander. Pour your soup through the colander, letting all the big funky wilted weird cooked veggies (and meat) catch in the colander while the liquid pours into the pot. Discard the solids. I usually like to get a mesh sieve and run the liquid through it, as some fine veggie funk is present. You want to get rid of that. Here is where you may choose to add salt and pepper to your beautiful broth.
The broth will freeze like a champ. I freeze my in 2 or 4 cup portions so they are recipe friendly.
Cheers.
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soup. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Broccoli Soup
It's Fall, which means it is time for soup to be back on the menu here in Pennsylvania. I made a nice broccoli soup over the weekend--really one of the best I've ever made, so I figured I better write it down. Don't worry about the quantities being exact for the ingredients--I really just threw things into the pot, and tasted as I cooked. You should adjust your soups to fit your tastes, and experiment with different blends of herbs and spices.
Ingredient list:
garlic, onion, broth, biggest head of broccoli you can find (or 2 smaller ones), raw cashews, salt, pepper.
optional: olive oil, nutritional yeast
note: if possible, soak 1/2 cup of raw cashews in water for 3-4 hours prior to starting the recipe below.
Chop up 1 small onion and 1 clove of garlic, and saute in a few glugs of olive oil (or broth) on medium heat. You want to cook them till the onions are transparent, but try not to let them turn brown. (note: if you are adding any herbs, do it here)
While this is cooking, roughly cut up a very large head of broccoli. It doesn't need to look pretty, just hack it up--the pieces do not need to be small.
Throw the broccoli pieces into the pot, turn up the heat, and give it a sprinkle of salt. Using a large spoon, try and move the pieces around a bit, coating the broccoli pieces in the oil/onion/garlic as much as you can. Do this for about 1-2 minutes.
Add 4-5 cups broth. Of course I like homemade broth the best--you just can't duplicate that flavor from a can or box, but if you must use boxed, you must. Another option would be to use soup base + water or cubes + water.
Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer. I usually cook it about 15 minutes--just make sure the broccoli is almost-falling-apart cooked. Turn off the heat and let it sit there. Taste and adjust your seasonings (remember that a little teaspoon of red wine vinegar or lemon juice can brighten up a soup a lot).
Let's pause here and contemplate our cashews. Did you remember to soak them? If you did, good for you--you can move to the next step. If you forgot, you will need to do this first:
Add your cashews to the pot (removed from the heat), stir once, and let it sit there for about 15 minutes.
Transfer the whole lot to the blender/vitamix. Those of you who were cashew-responsible and soaked them, add them here (drain soaking water first). Now, at this point I like to add 2 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast before blending. If you do not like nutritional yeast, don't add it. If you are a cheese eater, you may want to add a little shaved parm. Or don't add anything, just blend.
Of course I am a firm believer that soup is better if it sits overnight in the fridge before reheating and serving, but it is edible now. Enjoy!
Ingredient list:
garlic, onion, broth, biggest head of broccoli you can find (or 2 smaller ones), raw cashews, salt, pepper.
optional: olive oil, nutritional yeast
note: if possible, soak 1/2 cup of raw cashews in water for 3-4 hours prior to starting the recipe below.
Chop up 1 small onion and 1 clove of garlic, and saute in a few glugs of olive oil (or broth) on medium heat. You want to cook them till the onions are transparent, but try not to let them turn brown. (note: if you are adding any herbs, do it here)
While this is cooking, roughly cut up a very large head of broccoli. It doesn't need to look pretty, just hack it up--the pieces do not need to be small.
Throw the broccoli pieces into the pot, turn up the heat, and give it a sprinkle of salt. Using a large spoon, try and move the pieces around a bit, coating the broccoli pieces in the oil/onion/garlic as much as you can. Do this for about 1-2 minutes.
Add 4-5 cups broth. Of course I like homemade broth the best--you just can't duplicate that flavor from a can or box, but if you must use boxed, you must. Another option would be to use soup base + water or cubes + water.
Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer. I usually cook it about 15 minutes--just make sure the broccoli is almost-falling-apart cooked. Turn off the heat and let it sit there. Taste and adjust your seasonings (remember that a little teaspoon of red wine vinegar or lemon juice can brighten up a soup a lot).
Let's pause here and contemplate our cashews. Did you remember to soak them? If you did, good for you--you can move to the next step. If you forgot, you will need to do this first:
Add your cashews to the pot (removed from the heat), stir once, and let it sit there for about 15 minutes.
Transfer the whole lot to the blender/vitamix. Those of you who were cashew-responsible and soaked them, add them here (drain soaking water first). Now, at this point I like to add 2 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast before blending. If you do not like nutritional yeast, don't add it. If you are a cheese eater, you may want to add a little shaved parm. Or don't add anything, just blend.
Of course I am a firm believer that soup is better if it sits overnight in the fridge before reheating and serving, but it is edible now. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Cold Cucumber Soup
Wow, I have so many recipes to add, and no time to do it! I will try to get caught up soon.
Here's a simple recipe for a cold cucumber soup that is perfect for a hot summer day.
Ingredients:
2-3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon dried dill, or 3 T. fresh
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 3 t. fresh
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 container plain yogurt of your choice (greek, low fat, soy, etc)
salt to taste
Throw everything into your Vitamix, blender, or food processor. Blend until smooth and chill overnight.
If you want to make this soup a bit more savory, follow these directions:
* blend all ingredients except yogurt, adding 1/2 cup vegetable broth/stock. omit the lemon juice.
* after blending, transfer to bowl and stir in 1 container of greek yogurt. chill as directed. (the greek style yogurt will thicken the soup, which is necessary after adding the broth)
Here's a simple recipe for a cold cucumber soup that is perfect for a hot summer day.
Ingredients:
2-3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon dried dill, or 3 T. fresh
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 3 t. fresh
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 container plain yogurt of your choice (greek, low fat, soy, etc)
salt to taste
Throw everything into your Vitamix, blender, or food processor. Blend until smooth and chill overnight.
If you want to make this soup a bit more savory, follow these directions:
* blend all ingredients except yogurt, adding 1/2 cup vegetable broth/stock. omit the lemon juice.
* after blending, transfer to bowl and stir in 1 container of greek yogurt. chill as directed. (the greek style yogurt will thicken the soup, which is necessary after adding the broth)
Friday, September 3, 2010
Fresh Tomato Soup
Last night I realized I had about 6 tomatoes that were going to go bad if I didn't use them right away. I ended up making a quick fresh tomato soup that was fantastic. This can be served hot or cold. I served it room temp with croutons, which really hit the spot.
Heat 2 T. olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Add a few pinches of dried oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1 smashed garlic clove. Heat until fragrent. Now, hack up your tomatoes into chunks. Don't worry about peeling or seeding them, you can just throw everything right in the pot. Season with salt. Bring the heat up to boil, then reduce to simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and throw in the freezer to cool for 30 minutes. Serve w/ croutons. (PS--Aaron swirled some soft goat cheese into his before serving)
I served this along side some potato perioges that I sauteed with sweet onions. Perfect.
Heat 2 T. olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Add a few pinches of dried oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1 smashed garlic clove. Heat until fragrent. Now, hack up your tomatoes into chunks. Don't worry about peeling or seeding them, you can just throw everything right in the pot. Season with salt. Bring the heat up to boil, then reduce to simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and throw in the freezer to cool for 30 minutes. Serve w/ croutons. (PS--Aaron swirled some soft goat cheese into his before serving)
I served this along side some potato perioges that I sauteed with sweet onions. Perfect.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Rice & More Portable Food
I made a great lunch today to take to work. It's funny that the more effort I put into making my lunches, the more excited I am to eat them at work (and the more satisfying they seem)...
And one basic rule I'm learning about healthy eating is this:
Make your rice at the beginning of the week!!!
Every sunday I make a big container of rice to keep in the fridge for the week. (Don't forget to sprinkle it with a few spoonfulls of water each day to keep it from drying out) There's so much you can do with a big container of brown rice:
* add a few spoonfulls to soup to help thicken it
* make rice pudding
* spoon into a tortilla with beans & veggies to make a burrito (portable food!)
* mix with sauteed onions, mushrooms, and herbs then stuff in bell peppers and bake
* open a can of beans, drain, season, and pour over the rice
* rice + avacado + diced tomato + black beans
* rice + lentil soup + jack cheese
* rice + green peas + cheesy sauce (real or vegan)
* rice + broccoli + cheesy sauce
* rice + baked tofu + sauteed bok choy + teriyaki sauce
* INARI!!!
This sunday I spent the morning in Chinatown here in Philly. I went with no plan other than just to peek around at all the great food. While there, I picked up some aburage in an Asian grocery store. Aburage are seasoned fried tofu skins that you can stuff to make inari sushi. If you are not a fan of sushi, you might still enjoy inari, because you can really make it your own (no raw fish). Here's a basic recipe for inari. I use brown rice, which is not nearly as yummy or sweet as white rice, but I'm use to it. I know there is such a thing as sweet brown rice, and at some point I will experiment with it. The aburage I found was frozen (it also comes canned), and came with the rice seasoning packet--very convenient!
Making the inari isn't very time consuming if you take a few steps to prepare things the night before (like make your rice). Thaw the packets in the fridge overnight, and have a vision of what you want your entire meal to include. Inari can also be eaten as a snack, but I like to take it to work for lunch because it is PORTABLE FOOD!!
My delicious lunch today contained:
* 4 inari (made with brown rice, grated carrot, a little bragg's liquid aminos, and sesame seeds)
* Quick pickles (from an earlier post)
* Lentil ginger soup (canned lentil soup, pureed in the blender w/ fresh ginger, cumin, and corriander)
(Keep the inari at room temp for the morning at your office, and throw the rest in the fridge till you're ready to eat)
And I love that the inari is pocket-like, keeping with my accidental theme this week!
And one basic rule I'm learning about healthy eating is this:
Make your rice at the beginning of the week!!!
Every sunday I make a big container of rice to keep in the fridge for the week. (Don't forget to sprinkle it with a few spoonfulls of water each day to keep it from drying out) There's so much you can do with a big container of brown rice:
* add a few spoonfulls to soup to help thicken it
* make rice pudding
* spoon into a tortilla with beans & veggies to make a burrito (portable food!)
* mix with sauteed onions, mushrooms, and herbs then stuff in bell peppers and bake
* open a can of beans, drain, season, and pour over the rice
* rice + avacado + diced tomato + black beans
* rice + lentil soup + jack cheese
* rice + green peas + cheesy sauce (real or vegan)
* rice + broccoli + cheesy sauce
* rice + baked tofu + sauteed bok choy + teriyaki sauce
* INARI!!!
This sunday I spent the morning in Chinatown here in Philly. I went with no plan other than just to peek around at all the great food. While there, I picked up some aburage in an Asian grocery store. Aburage are seasoned fried tofu skins that you can stuff to make inari sushi. If you are not a fan of sushi, you might still enjoy inari, because you can really make it your own (no raw fish). Here's a basic recipe for inari. I use brown rice, which is not nearly as yummy or sweet as white rice, but I'm use to it. I know there is such a thing as sweet brown rice, and at some point I will experiment with it. The aburage I found was frozen (it also comes canned), and came with the rice seasoning packet--very convenient!
Making the inari isn't very time consuming if you take a few steps to prepare things the night before (like make your rice). Thaw the packets in the fridge overnight, and have a vision of what you want your entire meal to include. Inari can also be eaten as a snack, but I like to take it to work for lunch because it is PORTABLE FOOD!!
My delicious lunch today contained:
* 4 inari (made with brown rice, grated carrot, a little bragg's liquid aminos, and sesame seeds)
* Quick pickles (from an earlier post)
* Lentil ginger soup (canned lentil soup, pureed in the blender w/ fresh ginger, cumin, and corriander)
(Keep the inari at room temp for the morning at your office, and throw the rest in the fridge till you're ready to eat)
And I love that the inari is pocket-like, keeping with my accidental theme this week!
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