Yesterday after purchasing some lovely organic, local produce, I felt inspired to make some soup, something I'd never done before. My grandma had given me a recipe that my cousin had sent her for vegetable soup. It sounded delicious, so I followed the basic instructions but used whatever veggies we had in the house. My cousin had found the recipe for "Tuscan Vegetable Soup" here.
Have a nice week,
In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.
-- Carl Sagan
My vegetable soup (with the help of my step-mom) included:
- 2 organic carrots I purchased at the Farmers Market, sliced
- 1 small organic white onion (also from the Farmers Market), diced
- about a dozen organic new potatoes, sliced
- 3 handfuls of spinach
- 2 organic celery stalks, chopped
- 32 ounces of organic vegetable broth
- a can of organic Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- a handful of chopped parsley
- some sprinkles of organic all purpose seasoning
- many dashes of salt until the soup was well-flavored
- 1 tablespoon organic olive oil
It was my first time making soup, as well as my first time chopping an onion. Fortunately, it didn't make my eyes water! I sliced up the carrots, celery, potato, and onion and heated the oil in the pot over medium-high heat, as per the instructions on the recipe.
I minced the garlic into the pot and added the onion. That sure made the kitchen smell yummy! Then we added the chopped carrots, celery and potatoes. I sprinkled some all purpose seasoning over the mix and let the vegetables cook.
After the vegetables had gotten somewhat tender, we poured the vegetable broth in and let it boil. We added the beans and parsley. Once the potatoes and carrots were soft enough and I had added enough salt to my liking, I added the spinach and let the soup cook until dinner was ready a few minutes later.
I minced the garlic into the pot and added the onion. That sure made the kitchen smell yummy! Then we added the chopped carrots, celery and potatoes. I sprinkled some all purpose seasoning over the mix and let the vegetables cook.
After the vegetables had gotten somewhat tender, we poured the vegetable broth in and let it boil. We added the beans and parsley. Once the potatoes and carrots were soft enough and I had added enough salt to my liking, I added the spinach and let the soup cook until dinner was ready a few minutes later. The soup was delicious and reminded me of visiting my grandma's house--the same grandma who gave me the recipe. It tasted like something we'd eat at her house. Fortunately, we made enough for dinner and leftovers. I had some today for lunch and will have it again in my lunch tomorrow.
On another note, I have decided to keep a food journal to make myself more aware of what I'm eating. I will be keeping track of food origin, organic or not, genetically-modified or not (any tips for this one?), and the ingredients. I am continuing to follow the challenge that Reduce Footprints had a few weeks ago regarding ingredients to avoid and I have challenged myself to try and eat mostly local foods. The most important thing is that I make myself more aware so that down the road I can plan better to eat local, organic, nutritious foods. I started the journal this morning. Writing out ingredients takes awhile, so I will probably be making some food decisions based on ingredients list. Fortunately, the healthiest food tends to have the shortest ingredients list. I will periodically let you know how my journal is going and what I've learned to be more aware of. I may look up some ingredients to find out what they are and then I'll post that information here.
Have a nice week,
Green Gal
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In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.
-- Carl Sagan
It was a yummy soup! You're so cool!
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