A Guide to Simple Soups

Soup Tips • Freeze leftover soup in small containers for convenient leftovers.

• Soup too thin? Thicken it up by simmering in grated raw potato or equal parts flour and melted butter.

Or, puree with an immersion blender.

• Don’t forget to finish off your soup with toppings.

Everything from croutons to chopped, fresh herbs, to crispy pieces of bacon to seeds or nuts to sour cream or yogurt.

• When cooking, save your vegetable scraps in the freezer in a plastic bag and make stock when your bag is full. Add chicken bones for chicken stock or beef bones for beef stock.

About

Everyday Chef Everyday Chef is a project of the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link (RAFFL) with the support of the James T. Bowse Community Health Trust and the Rutland County Nutrition Coalition.

Everyday Chef seeks to inspire participants to cook and eat delicious, nutritious local foods that are in season.

Rutland Area Farm and Food Link www.rutlandfarmandfood.org

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Everyday Chef A Guide to Simple Soups www.everydaychef.org Rutland Area Farm and Food Link

Simple Soups

Forget the cans. You don’t even need a recipe.

Homemade soups are one of the easiest foods to cook. Even if you mess up, soup is forgiving and will probably still taste delicious. It’s not as time consuming as it might seem either.

Most soups can cook through in 30 minutes - a portion of that time unattended. And believe it or not, you probably have enough ingredients on hand right now to make a great soup.

Just follow these basic guidelines.

tart with a little fat 1 Sand a lot of flavor

2 Add seasoning

Saute aromatic vegetables like garlic, ginger, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves and garlic in a little oil or butter and you’ll already have a great flavor base.

Salt. Zest. Spice blends. Woody herbs.

4

3 Stir in cooking liquid

Add main ingredients

in order of cooking time

Add ingredients in the order of the longest cooking time to the shortest. If you want vegetables to break down in the soup - add them early.

For a fresh, crisp taste - add later. When using already cooked leftovers, add at the very end.

Broth, stock, juice, and wine are all options. If you’re allowing your soup to simmer long enough with flavorful ingredients, even water can be used. Add in creams or milks towards the very end of cooking.

5 Taste as you go Always taste your cooking! Then, adjust seasonings to your liking as you go. Because soup is so forgiving, it’s not to difficult to alter the flavor or texture at any point.