Nearly every day my wife and I ask each other, “got any ideas for dinner?” As all grown-ups know, you gotta’ eat, and you’re probably gonna fix it yourself. So here’s a suggestion. Open the fridge and pull out all the veggies you can find, and voila: you have the makings for a healthy vegetarian soup. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino, that collection of vegetables will vary from season to season.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP. For instance, I actually tried this just last week. I surveyed our refrigerator and discovered turnips, parsnips, carrots and onions; all root vegetables. Quite often I would be Happy just to cut these up into bite sized pieces, sprinkle them with olive oil, and roast them in a hot oven. But this time I went one step further. I heated up four cups of vegetable broth and tossed the roasted root vegetables in. I cooked it all for about 15 minutes, and then I went to work with the submersible blender.
A quick two minutes of blitzing gave me creamy lump-free soup that was mostly dark orange in color, from the carrots.
I tasted it and adjusted the seasoning: a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of cumin, and a teaspoon of red chili flakes. A quick stir and a bit more heat and it was good to go.
LENTIL AND LEEKS SOUP. Let’s take another look at the pantry. We’ve got a bunch of leeks, fresh from the farmers market, a few sweet potatoes, some tomatoes that we put up a month or so ago, and a bag of lentils.
Sounds promising. Let’s start by cutting up the leeks cross-wise and sautéing them in olive oil. When they’re tender, in go the tomatoes. We’ll pour in 6 cups of broth and add a cut up sweet potato, which we will let simmer and soften.
Then, when your pot is gently bubbling, we’ll pour in a half cup of lentils, along with salt, pepper, cumin and dried thyme. Cook gently for about 45 minutes and you’re done.
BUTTERNUT AND PANEER SOUP. Of course, all of our winter squashes are in the market right now. My favorite, the butternut, is so great to work with. It’s really easy to whip up a butternut squash soup: cut up the squash, simmer the chunks in your favorite broth, purée it in a food processor, and add a bit of crème fraiche. But let’s take it one step further and borrow an idea from Indian cooking. Paneer cheese is a marvelous ingredient, essential of course for Palak Paneer, the famous spinach dish. Paneer cheese doesn’t quite melt in a hot dish, but it does soften very nicely. I would cut up smallish cubes of paneer and toss it into my butternut squash soup. To take the Indian approach a little further, I would also add a touch of the famous spice mix Garam Masala. You could even garnish with toasted pepita seeds for a sensational dish.
SPINACH AND ORZO SOUP. Finally, you poke around your pantry, and you come up with a half bag of spinach, some carrots, a handful of scallions, and some orzo pasta. Start by sautéing the cut-up carrots and scallions in a saucepan and add some minced garlic just as everything is getting tender. In goes 6 cups of vegetable broth, and the orzo. When everything is well cooked, stir in your spinach and just let it wilt. Season with salt and pepper and you’re good to go. Simple and very healthy.
