It’s beginning to get cold outside, and that always makes me think of soup. But I have a few principles about soup that I never betray, and while these Principles may not actually stand up to sustained scrutiny, I abide by them all the same:
- I never use vegetable stock. No one will ever be able to convince me it’s not a criminal waste of vegetables. Just put more vegetables into your soup, and boom, you’ve made vegetable stock AND soup at the same time.
- I never blend or food process. What a royal pain. Plus, there’s so much left wasted on the sides that you can’t scrape off, and anyway, I enjoy texture. And I will defend this stance until someone gives me an immersion blender.
- I never simmer. Simmering is for rice and other starches that you want to cook without boiling over. You don’t have to worry about this with most soups, as long as the pot isn’t filled to the brim. High heat cooks your soup faster and is more energy-efficient. Soup cooked over a low flame for hours on end sounds a lot better, but I would like to see empirical evidence that it actually draws out (or ‘locks in’) more flavor.
Today I made a delicious, easy and vegan potato parsley soup. Note: the recipe I found online was not particularly easy, until I applied the above Principles.
Ingredients: 1 large onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 1.5 pounds of potatoes, 1 bunch of fresh parsley, soy milk (or milk), salt, pepper.
Step 1: Saute a large onion, chopped, in however much olive oil you comfortably need. I would just use the bottom of your soup pot so it’s one fewer pot to wash. When tender, add 5 cloves of garlic, chopped. The garlic doesn’t have to be chopped ridiculously small… it’s soup.
Step 2: Add about 1.5 pounds of your potato of choice, diced. I used Yukon Gold. Keep in mind – you’re not blending this soup, no matter what the recipe says. So if you don’t like large chunks of potato, dice it fairly small – cubes of 1 cm work fine.
Step 3: Immediately after adding the potato, fill your soup pot with enough water to cover the potatoes, and then just slightly more than that. Remember – it’s easier to add water later on than to take water away. Bring back to a boil, cover the pot while leaving it open a crack, and keep your heat medium high. Those big bubbles will cook your potatoes nicely. Just stir every now and again to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom (and add water if you’re worried). After 30 minutes or so, depending on how small your pieces of potato were, your soup should be approaching the stage of watery potato mush. Stir vigorously to break up any final potato clumps.
Step 4: Chop a fresh bunch of parsley very finely, removing the stems first if you don’t want stems. Add most of the parsley to the soup. Stir.
Step 5: Remove from heat. Add soy milk (or milk) until you reach the desired consistency. Do not add the soy milk (or milk) while the soup is still on the burner.
Step 6: Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top as a garnish. Optional: a dollop of sour cream on top would also probably be tasty, if you eat dairy.
While I was waiting for my soup to cook, I discovered some micro greens in my refrigerator that needed to be finished, so I made a simple salad of winter romaine, micro greens, and sauerkraut, dressed with oil and vinegar and tossed well. It went great with the soup.
P.S. Am I intentionally inviting controversy by starting off this post with the aforementioned Principles? Yes. See you in the comments.
i am totally with you on the “no blending” rule. i have teeth, i don’t need to blend my food.
Responses to Principles:
1. I’m there with you on vegetable stock in soups, but for risotto and things of that nature, it’s very handy. Do you really mean “never?”
2. Pretty much agreed, though I feel like there are a few exceptions. What about butternut squash soup?
3. Again, more or less agreed, but somewhat counter-intuitively you actually CAN burn soup. I have done it. So I would caution people to be a bit careful with how high they get the heat.
I do think you are right about “bringing out/locking in” flavor being a bit of dubious cooking orthodoxy. As with everything, I’m sure there are suggestions, but I’d be surprised if someone could taste the difference between 30 minute potato soup and two hour potato soup.
Oh yes… I really meant the Principles to apply only to soup. As for butternut squash soup… I’ve eaten it, but never made it. So I’ll grant you that one.
yum looks good! i never use veg broth either but i do usually add a spoon of white miso paste to soups. then you don’t really have to add salt.
soup looks good. I use vegetable stock but never really thought about it very much…(somebody explain again why you don’t? your theory is that if there’s water and vegetables already in there, you don’t need stock instead of water?) f
I do very much feel that a smooth consistency really does make a huge difference in certain soups (I also recently just purchased an immersion blender.) But no one can tell me that cauliflower soup, or black bean pumpkin soup, or the aforementioned butternut, isn’t better creamy.
thanks for the post! soup recipes always welcome.