Turning Sad Foods into Delicious Soup
Part 1: The Sad Vegetable Bag
At all times you should have in your freezer a large ziploc bag. Your ends and butts of onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, leeks, maybe squash, probably not broccoli but you get the point - they will all go in this bag in the freezer, where they will stay eternally young but look sad, hence, sad vegetable bag. Their happy life as vegetables is put on hold until that day when you feel like have a cold, and this is when you revive them with water and make them into stock. This is not hard! You simply dump the contents of the bag into a large pot, cover them with water and then some more, and simmer. For as long as you feel like. Herbs would be nice too - why don’t you pull the fresh looking parsley from the plant that will likely die soon? That’ll do.
Part 2: Sad Cheese Rinds, and Other Things
When your stock feels ready (basically, when you’re tired of waiting), strain out the vegetable chunks and return the broth to the pot. Add some rice, a handful or two. Add some hastily smashed cloves of garlic. Maybe add some more water and a bouillon cube for good measure. Add salt if the flavor cube doesn’t have it. Add an old rind of parmesan (VERY IMPORTANT). Let this simmer until the rice is done.
Part 3: Peas, If You Please
When your soup is almost ready (taste it! salt? spice?), pull out some frozen peas or edamame. Throw ‘em in the soup until they’re heated through. Then, eat! Maybe put some shredded parmesan on the top. Feel life reenter your sad body that only wants brothy soup as all your sad foods combine to make something wonderful.
[Adapted from Bittman, without all the pesky rules and measurements.]
