I love having hot soup in the winter time!  It takes off that chill that’s sometimes hard to get rid of.  Even though it has been a fairly mild winter around here, it’s certainly not summer!

When I was younger, I learned how to make soups with leftovers from the week.  I would start with a base of onions, carrots and celery, sauteed until soft, and then add a little flour for thickening.  Once that’s smooth and bubbly, I would add broth – beef, chicken or vegetable, depending on what meat was leftover.  I’d add some of my favorite herbs – thyme, oregano and basil usually, sometimes some tarragon (goes great with chicken!)  After letting that simmer for half an hour or so to marry the flavors, I’d throw in the leftover veggies – corn, green beans, broccoli, asparagus – it’s all good!  Then comes the leftover beef, chicken or turkey.  Sometimes I made it low carb by keeping out the starches.  Other times, I would add potatoes, cooked rice or pasta.  The only thing about pasta is, if you don’t eat it all, the pasta will expand a lot and get really soft.  If there’s lots of broth, I actually like to cook the starch in it, rather than cooking it ahead of time.

There you go, a great, simple, hearty soup to keep you warm on a cold day.  I didn’t give you amounts of ingredients because it’s all by sight and taste.  Be brave, creative, and have fun!  After all, isn’t that what great kitchens are for?

 

This entry was posted in Recipes on January 9, 2012 by THblog.