So good even carnivores will like it.
A vegetable soup that was very popular at a lunch I made.
First I made a stock. I took onions, carrots, celery, leeks and a bit of olive oil. Then roasted them for about an hour at 325 until they had browned nicely. I took them out and put them in a large stockpot with some additional raw onions, leeks, mushrooms, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorns, and salt. Then covered all of this with water and added a cup or so of soy sauce. Brought to a boil then reduced to a simmer for an hour. Then strained out the solids. Kept the broth and toss the solids.
To Make The Soup: Cut up onions, carrots, leeks, celery, and garlic then saute’ them for a bit in olive oil until they have softened and begin to brown. Add to the stock. Add in some mushrooms, cut into large chunks. You want to have them about a half inch or so. Use white buttons, criminis, portabellas, or whatever you like. These will give that meatlike sensation to the soup. Add a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes with the juice. Bring up to a boil, then add raw medium barley and baby potatoes cut into quarters. Let all this cook at a simmer for an hour.
For this meal I found some dry mezzalune pasta filled with pesto so I added that and cooked until soft. Seasoned with salt and pepper and pesto.
About 10 minutes before serving, I tossed in some frozen spinach, fresh green beans, and frozen corn, then adjusted the seasonings.
You can also add a bit of cider vinegar to give it a bit of a spark.
The thing is, you don’t have to use these vegetables. It’s just stuff I had. Make it the way you like. Instead of the pasta, use something else. Or nothing else. Instead of barley use rice or lentils. I do recommend some kind of heavy filler, though. Use zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, anything you like. The secret is a good stock and adjust the seasoning the way you like. I do recommend adding the raw mushrooms because that gives a great texture.
