So, my free soup today is a hodgepodge of ingredients. Basically, it is a Garbage Can Soup, but with the added bonus of costing virtually nothing.
The stock is from water that I boiled potatoes in, extra starch to fill you up and thicken the soup. Water from carrots I boiled. Extra keratin for your skin, hair, and nails.
The main vegetable is zucchini (courgette to those of you on the verge of brexit). This I got from the one neighbour. She does a great vegetable garden every year. However, she does not like zukes when they get big; so, we usually get a crack at them. I used some on the weekend to make zucchini steaks, but still had lots leftover. Perfect for soup.
Then, I had a cooked cob of corn left over. I cut the corn off and threw that in to the pot too. Really, this is free. It was $7.00 for a baker's dozen, so really it was the thirteenth, free, cob.
Next, it was broccoli, I think it cost $1.50-2.00 for three heads. They had been in the fridge for a long time. Still good, but not for long. I know many people would probably bin it if it was them. Not me, perfect for soup. I cut up all the stalks and threw them in. The tiny florets I cut will go in near the end.
I had also pulled out some homemade salsa that we froze. Again, perfect to perk up soups, or pasta sauce, etc. There were some dregs in a couple of jars of odd items in the fridge, still good, but not enough for anything. In the pot.
Then radishes. They were getting soft. It was what was left from my Dutch-Egyptian Salad. I had already used the green tops for another soup. In they went. One carrot in the fridge. Really? One? What do you do with that? In you go!
More zucchini. And I still have some left.
Then a couple of potatoes. Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes. (Ignore Michael Pollan's ravings. He really does not know nearly as much about food as he thinks. Sorry buddy.) What the boy and I consider the best potatoes in the world. I use them for all types of dishes. The amount you get in a bag and the cost? Basically free for a couple of potatoes.
I also threw in some jus left from a lamb roast. Since I threw that in, there were a few small lamb skewers and a small piece of steak in the fridge. Cut it up small and some protein in the pot now too.
I cut up some cauliflower for the boy's lunch for school. Not much left really. Cut it up, stems and all. The florets will go with broccoli ones near the end, the rest in to the mix.
Seasoning: A few dashes of Worcester sauce and Indonesian soy sauce, hardly worth pennies. A bay leaf, white pepper, granulated garlic and onion, Spanish paprika, and some Herbes de Provence, without lavender thank goodness, that a friend brought back from France and gave to me. I buy most of my herbs and spices in bulk as I use quite a bit. So, really, the amount I used verses cost: free!
A couple more things from the fridge not worth saving for something else. The pot is almost completely full. And I have not added the florets yet. They may not go in until a couple of bowls are eaten first. We will see.
Soup made from free stuff, items saved from other cooking processes, leftovers, many varied items that alone would not be enough for a meal for even one person, and foodstuffs that were "going" which only really can do well in soups or stews. So, free soup. Easy peasy, nice and easy. This soup will feed us at least three times, more in fact. If I had to put a price tag on this pot of deliciousness? $10.00? So, less than a buck a meal per person. If you add bread or a salad, it becomes a super-meal. Pretty good. Eh? blbbl
No comments:
Post a Comment