Kip's Cookery

"I'm Poor!" Vegetable Soup

I came up with this on the fly and did not measure or time anything, so these are guestimates. Your mileage may vary. For some of you, this recipe is going to be common sense and "why did she bother posting that?" If you are like my sister (love and have loads of respect for as I do), this is a the result of arcane kitchen knowlege that despite her Master's in EE, continues to ellude her.

The problem with most vegetable soup recipes is the vegetable broth is too weak and flavorless. So let's fix that.

3 cups of 1.5 vegetable broth. This means if you have the pre-prepared stuff, add some dried vegetable bouillon or make broth from the bouillon at 1.5 times the strength.

1/2 - tablespoon of poultry seasoning. (Or any combination of Sage, Thyme, Marjoram, Parsley, onion powder or dried chives, celery salt or celery leaves, etc. you like.)

2 - 3 carrots in bite size slices, make them on the thick side.

2 - 3 celery stalks , ditto.

2 medium potatoes, peel intact, bite size chunks.

Cook for over medium heat for 20 minutes or until *just* getting so you can stick a fork in them.

Add...

2 cups of dried egg noodles or pasta. (The egg noodles are lighter and better, IMO. If you only have spaghetti, snap them into "noodle length" pieces. You can also use rice, which you would add at the beginning of the recipe since it takes longer to cook. But rice will continue to soak up the liquid until you have a rice and vegetable casserole, which is still yummy, but not a soup.)

Cook until noodles are done.

Soup's on.

Past that, add what veggies you like. Remember: The harder the vegetable, the longer it has to cook. I also add chunks of turnip (which go in at the beginning with the carrots, celery, and potatoes) and yellow squash, which I add at the same time I add the noodles. If you were to add something like fresh broccoli or green beans, I would add it a few minutes before the noodles. If they are frozen, then add it a little bit after the noodles.