RECIPE ~ ASG’s All-Vegetable Soup for the Start of Autumn
Serves 4 - 6. Cooking time - if prepped correctly, you can get to pot within 1 hour. Soup needs about 2.5 hours to reduce.
x1/4 bag of navy beans - soaked in water overnight, drain, keep ¼ and store in fridge for later use
x1 can crushed tomatoes - drain, keep juice, set aside
x1/2 yellow onion, x1/2 shallot, x3 celery - all finely chopped
x1/2 bulb garlic, crushed - prepped
x1/2 ginger - cleaned, peeled, finely chopped
x1 sweet potato - cleaned, peeled, coarsely chopped (or chopped to desired size)
x2 cups of water
x1 can of (non-lite) coconut milk - sometimes listed as ‘whole fat’
x2 tsp of Italian seasoning
x2 tsp curry powder
x2 tbsp tomato paste
x1/2 bunch of fresh spinach - cleaned, stemmed, keep chilled to needed
Salt and pepper - to taste
x1/2 bunch of fresh kale - cleaned, stemmed, coarsely pulled
Fresh basil - hand tear single leaf for each serving to go atop
Croutons - if desired
In advance of cooking, soak navy beans in water overnight and keep them loosely covered. The next day, strain, holding ¼ of the amount. Save the remainder in the fridge until next use.
Warm oven to 200. Warm skillet on low for chicken.
Prep vegetables before starting so you have it all at hand - you can go quickly with this recipe. Place drained tomatoes and cut carrots on a cooking sheet. Place in top of oven for 20 minutes - this is merely to draw out moisture and not to cook ~ do not allow to brown or singe. While that works itself, cook mirepoix (onion, shallot,
celery, garlic) in light butter and carefully cook until soft, not brown. Put the temperature to low while you prep the remainder. Personally, I like different textures in my dishes so I would put half of my spices, sweet potato, carrots, and tomatoes into the mirepoix. Keep on low and allow it to continue to share its flavors - you are also reducing moisture to increase flavor.
After 10 minutes, add vegetable broth and the remainder of the ginger, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. Get soup up to simmer. Put in any remaining seasonings and tomato paste. Add spinach. Eye the soup; if it looks like it has melded enough, add in coconut fat. Allow to all get to temperature, or until good simmer. Then add kale. Stir and then taste for any further seasoning. Typically, I would add more paste, curry, or Italian seasoning until you reach an even, though hearty, flavor.
I like to serve most of my meals the next day as it matures overnight. On serving, put a basil on top. I don’t use croutons, but I can see why some folks may want that or soup crackers.
Serve alongside English muffins with plenty of butter - goes great on early Fall evenings along with Bill Evens accompaniment.
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