Winter Soup
KITCHEN SINK SOUP: DINNER WITH WHAT’S ON HAND
It is winter and time for soup! A velvety carrot or pumpkinsoup is a thing of beauty. But don't overlook the other kind of soup -- amish-mash of what you have on hand that is never the same soup twice. If youchoose complementary ingredients, add a little bread and salad, you have madeyourself a truly elevated meal.
We call this "Kitchen-sink soup", as in"everything but the kitchen sink". You don't need to make a specialtrip to the store to get the ingredients for this soup. The magic of this soup is that you use what'sin the kitchen right now: leftovers and kitchen staples. Add some water orstock, simmer and enjoy.
Half a chicken breast (diced or shredded), a few broccolicrowns, extra pasta or rice. All of these come together to create abelly-warming masterpiece. Kitchenstaples you should have on hand include rice, pasta, dry lentils, canned beans,onion, garlic, herbs, and spices.
We like to have a balance of starch, protein, and vegetables.
STARCH
Favored starches are potatoes, rice, and pasta. For potatoes, use leftovers, or dice one ortwo potatoes evenly (peeled or unpeeled). For uncooked potatoes, put them inearly. For already cooked potatoes, add them near the end so they get heatedthrough, but don't fall apart. Smallerpastas (macaroni, orrechiette, pinwheels) work better than long noodles likespaghetti or linguini. You will be eating this with a spoon, not a knife andfork. Any type of rice will do, even leftover. Add the pasta or rice near thebeginning, as they need to cook (or soften, in the case of leftover rice).
PROTEIN
Soup-friendly proteins include chicken, beans, and eveneggs. Cooked chicken can be diced or shredded before adding it to the soup. Rawchicken can be added to your cooking water at the very beginning, and shreddednear the end, once it is cooked through. Canned beans are a great choice (drainbefore adding the soup.) Dry lentilscook quickly, and will be soft by the time everything else is at its perfectstage. Larger beans like kidney, chickpea, and navy beans are better out of acan because you don't have to concern yourself with long cooking times orsoaking. Eggs are a beautiful addition. Near the end of your cooking time,crack an egg or two into a cup and whisk. Swirl the soup in one direction, thengently but quickly pour in the eggs and watch them turn into ethereal ribbons.
VEGETALBES
For vegetables, think winter produce. Carrots are great forcolor and substance. Dice into equal sizes and add early (before potatoes) forsoft-but-not-mushy carrots. Onions and garlic go in first and add great flavor.Arugula, spinach, and watercress are beautiful green nutrient-rich additions.Slice them into ribbons or tear the arugula into manageable sizes and fold inat the end. For an elegant presentation, put these greens into each soup bowland ladle the soup over them. Bok choi, kale and chard can be added earlier, asthey need time to become tender. Finally, diced tomatoes from a can or cartoncan be added if you are aiming for a minestrone-style soup.
FLAVOR
You will want to kick up the flavor before serving. Theingredients above are tasty, but this soup won't wow without a few more items.Instead of water as your base, you can opt for stock. Chicken calls for chickenor vegetable stock. Thinly sliced beef calls for beef stock. A sprinkle ofherbs - fresh or dried - will add flavor. Once the soup is served, a squirt oflemon or lime brings a lightness to the soup and marries the flavors together.Flaky sea salt added at the end intensifies the flavors, too. With chicken andcarrots, I love to add cooked Spanish chorizo. I dice it and add it to eachbowl. if you add it to the soup pot while the soup is cooking, the fat getsrendered, and you end up with an oily soup. Experiment with other sausages, too. Uncooked sausage goes in at thebeginning.
The key to this soup is creativity and experimentation.There is no right or wrong. We do, however, try to follow one of our cookingmottos: "if it grows together, it goes together." Vegetables fromsimilar growing regions tend to complement each other.
Bon apetit!
