random meh vegetable soup!

and, because i'm on a roll, this will be the third post in a row to be filed under humiliating confessions. what's on the agenda is a soup i made on november 30 (according to the date on my photos), and...it was just ok. meh.

see? and you thought everything i ever make is fabulous. well, sometimes it isn't. the only thing that's kind of a bummer is that this one came from a recipe, and i can't really direct anyone to the problem, as i can't remember where the recipe came from.

let's see if we can figure out anything discerning from the pics, which are officially two months old.

i know: these are onions!

carrots!

potatoes!

broth and bay leaves and...stuff!

some rather nice-looking kale!

i have absolutely no idea why i made soup with pretty much the same ingredients as other vegetable/kale soups that didn't taste very good. all i remember is that i tried a different recipe from the one that turned out amazing and delicious, and that in itself is a decision which defies reason and logic, and which i am left to ponder for another day.

lentil soup!

it might appear as if its been over two weeks since my last post. this is the longest time i've gone without posting in the few months that i've had my little blog, and that fact is both pathetic and sad. but, that is what happens when you travel and visit family and go to conferences and things like that. i believe i have six posts catch up on before i'm in the clear, so i'll see what i can do to make that happen as i settle into a daily routine, and, also, get. my. dissertation. finished.

so.

a week ago, i made a plain yet delicious lentil soup. i got the recipe from mark bittman's 'how to cook everything vegetarian,' which i received as a holiday gift and which makes me happy.

lentil soup is very easy to make. it involves cooking lentils for a long time with some broth, carrots and celery (again, i hate celery, but it is ok if it is cooked in soup and then either blended or removed, and is not the primary flavor) and spices.

while this is happening, carmelize a bunch of onions in a pan:

and then, you combine the two and mix using your brand new present, mr. immersion blender! and, while we're at it, i'd like to advertise the first thing i learned about immersion blenders: when in shallow waters, they splash. sometimes, you must pour your liquids into a smaller saucepan so that the immersion blender has a better time doing its thing and you don't get wet. true, you are dirtying another pan, but, hopefully, you won't make this mistake a second time. and, by the way, when i say 'you,' i mean me.

add a little salt and pepper, and you are done.

i ate the soup alongside a toasted everything bagel and cream cheese and smoked salmon spread that had travelled nine hours in the car from near the new jersey/new york border. i don't eat this very often, but, boy is it good. if you're ever in westfield, new jersey, i highly recommend 'bagel chateau.' they rock. over and out.

tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans!

yesterday i was still feeling kind of blah, and i wanted soup. the kind of soup that can be made without having to drive to the supermarket, that i could make out of the pantry.

i ended up with tomato-rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans from veganomicon.

and, lucky you, i also happened to find one person who posted the recipe online - you can (click here) to get to it.

to begin with, i should probably point out that i made some alterations, based on the whole 'no supermarket' thing. the first being that i didn't have two bulbs of garlic to roast. so, i went with the alternative directions of taking around 6 cloves...

and throwing them in a soup pot with the finely diced onion.

after it cooked a bit, i threw in the rice...

and the rest of the spices and stirred things around for a couple minutes.

next came the tomatoes. a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes went in the pot...

as well as a 15oz can of crushed tomatoes and a few chopped fresh tomatoes lurking in the fridge. altogether, this is almost what the recipe called for.

and i don't care if this is now going to be called 'chunky' tomato-rice soup.

in fact, because i'm so crazy, i decided to add one of my organic veggie broth starburst creatures to the mix after i added all the water and it came to a boil. after this, i turned it down and it simmered for 45 minutes.

and then i added the beans and let them warm up:

and then i ate it. i should probably mention that, while all this was cooking, i did walk 1 block down the road to the panera to get a baguette to eat with this. this has happened pretty much every time i've cooked something that a baguette might go with - i've just never mentioned it or taken a picture. and, keeping with tradition, i forgot to take a picture last night. oh well - we'll have to make due with this:

vegetarian barley soup and greens!

i kind of adapted from a couple random recipes on the internet. if this looks suspiciously like yours and you want credit, please feel free to let me know...

vegetarian barley soup

one onion - chopped

half a bunch of celery - cut into little bunches

4-5 cloves garlic - depending on preference/size

couple TB of olive oil

3 quarts veg broth - some of that can be water

3/4 cup barley

a couple bay leaves

1/5-2 russet potatoes - cut in little pieces

3 large carrots - peeled and cut in rings

30 oz can of tomatoes in juice

some dried basil or other seasonings to taste

kale

directions....

saute onions and garlic in olive oil in your soup pot over medium heat for a few minutes. then chop your celery and add that to the mix. although i saw some directions that said to add all three at the same time - its really up to you. either way, keep it going until all is a bit brown. that is the way you do things...if you are a celery lover.

however, anyone who knows me knows i happen to HATE celery. as in 'i'm using the word hate' and the only time its remotly acceptable is when i can't taste it in soup stocks and like dishes. so. this is literally the embarrassing thing that i did. instead of saute all of those together, we have onions and garlic:

and then i added the celery like this....so that i could take it out later with ease....

after it looks like everything has browned a bit, you add your broth (mine was half broth and half broth/starburst creatures that you add to water) until the whole thing boils. then you add bay leaves and the barley. this is what barley looks like before it cooks - interesting!

then you let it simmer for an hour. and, if, like me, you are so inclined, you take the dreaded celery OUT of the broth:

if not, skip to taking the basil and the tomatoes and the rest of the veggies, which you have prepped like so:

and you add them:

and you simmer away another hour until everything seems soft. and then you add as much kale as your little heart desires and stir it in for a couple minutes and then eat it with some bread. and as you eat it, realize how pretty the whole thing looks.

this was really, really good. five top chef stars!