#1 the vegetable, summer squash, carrot, broccoli, celery, leeks, asparagus, cauliflower, corn, fresh peas, spinach (greens), turnip, beet, winter squash, etc.
#2 oil, onion, garlic, and even the garlic is optional,
#3 stock or water
I find no need for any type of cream, milk, yogurt to make these soups richer, blending them (pureeing) makes them "creamy" enough for me, but it's always an option. I tend to use less stock, more vegetables, to make a thicker puree.
Adding anything else is a bonus! For instance, as I was cleaning out my fridge, using the remainder of this last weeks veggies, before picking up this weeks CSA box, and for some reason I forgot about the jalapenos that I picked up from the Mexican market about 5 days ago....how could I forget about jalapenos? Wow 5 days old...they had to be used! Ah....squash soup with jalapenos, perfect. So I sauteed 4-5 sliced jalapenos with the onion before adding the stock and squash, and then pureed it all together...yum! (I thought about using chipolte w/adobo for another variation, but the dark red color would clash with the color of the summer squash...maybe cauliflower, or winter squash w/chipolte?)
I used corn stock and added leftover roasted corn, shredded beet greens, (I always add greens to my soup, if I have them, and these were from last weeks CSA box), chicken and I roasted a red bell pepper, and topped it off with a squeeze if lime! OMG, killer!
Now, one of the reasons I think my soups are killer is because I use my own stock, you can make these soups with store bought low sodium chicken broth, or water, I don't know what they would taste like but if you don't have anything to compare the taste to then I'm sure both are fine....me, on the other hand, I know what good soup tastes like, LOL! (sorry, that's my "inner bitch-snob" talking)
Flavor additions ar endless....
fresh herbs, basil, mint, parsley, dill, etc.
bacon or smokey meats
shredded greens
melty cheeses, feta, jack, parmesan, , goat, etc.
pine nuts
flavored oils (truffle)
citrus My next food post will be homemade stock, both traditionally made and my pressure cooker method, chicken and vegetable/corn.
Life is good, homemade soup is good......and yummy!
2 comments:
Looks fabulous that soup!!
When you are in town next month we are going to have to do some cooking with sweet corn!
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