Veggie Soup With An Asian Bent

Got some left over veggies in your frig.?

Or even some very fresh ones? Even lettuce? Yes, lettuce!!! Try it and you’ll see.

Well, I did and before they went south, I made myself a delicious and very healthy soup. I also decided that I wanted to pair it with some hot Saki to warm my cold bones after a delicious day cross country skate skiing Hailey’s Croy Canyon, which by the way was perfectly groomed as usual by the BCRD. Well the moose was out and about, or so I was told by a youngling, but I didn’t encounter it. I have had one of the moose twins (yes indeed) in my front yard whereas after it, along with its brother and mother, sauntered down Hailey’s main street. Now, we do know don’t we (?)that here in Hailey territory when we see the moose(s) we don’t go up and give it(them) a hug or let the dog do that either. Now I bet you all wished you lived in Hailey to see our magnificent wild life.

But I digress and back to the soup—I am going to tell you how I made mine, but my fun in cooking is inventing dishes so here’s one that you can invent for yourself. Then, when you’ve made a really awesome concoction, be sure to email me and then I’ll post it on my eyeonsunvalley.com post. When you do this, imagine yourself becoming a famous chef because yes indeed, EOSV can help you become that.

My Ingredients That I Had & Used:

• A bit of bacon cut into small pieces (I keep some bacon in the freezer just for this cause)
• A little butter and a tad bit of olive oil (I like the combo taste of these)
• One large and long green zucchini—well scrubbed of course
• Six very large Brussels sprouts—also washed and groomed (brown ends & yellow leaves off)
• One savory Idaho medium sized baking potato—peeled
• One or Two garlic clove-peeled of course
• Four cups of a mixture of vegetable and chicken stock (I love the BetterThan Bouillon brand but of course home made is the best.)
• Lime juice to taste
• Inglehoffer Wasabit with Horseradish –a nice healthy dash of that to make it a bit Asian
• Worcestershire Sauce—a bit of that as well
• S&P to taste
• Mary’s Caraway Gluten Free Crackers for a topping

My directions for myself or for yourself if you wish:

• In your food processor (or by hand) small chop the zucchini, Brussels sprouts, potato and garlic clove
• Brown the bacon in a medium sized pot and add the bit of butter when browned
• Brown the chopped veggies over medium low heat (10-15minutes) in the melted oil/butter till they are soft but not browned.
• Add the stock, lime juice, Inglehoffer, Worcestershire and S&P to taste.
• Slow simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more adding more liquid stock and seasonings of your choice if needed.

 

Result: This soup was easy to make, comforting and hot. I knew that it was healthy featuring all those veggies and I topped it with gluten free self-crunched caraway crackers that made it even more delicious. My treat to go with this dish was some nice hot Saki.

Now use your imagination. You can make similar soups with a German bent, Indian bent, French bent—well, you get the idea. Now that it is the New Year and we all wish to scurry away those extra pounds but still remain within the healthy diet realm, here is a recipe that you’ll love eating yourself and serving to others.

 

So, bon appétit and I can’t wait to see what ideas you have and post them to margot@eyeonsunvalley.com

As always—eager for a new recipe?—go to http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com where I have more than 200 yummy recipes posted and also look for this recipe on http://www.eyeonsunvalley.com