Beth Skwarecki

Somehow I seem to never have luck with garbage soups. I mix together a bunch of soup-worthy ingredients, simmer them for an hour, and what do I get? A whole lot of nothing. Bland, boring, a waste of vegetables.

The other day I made a soup like this, and despite some promising ingredients (a 32-bean soup mix, lots of garlic, etc) it tasted like the usual blandness. In a desperate attempt to produce something edible, I added some salt. Then I added some more salt. Then, sensing the potential for greatness, I added about a half teaspoon of each soup-worthy herb I could find in the cabinet. And you know what? It worked!

Here's the recipe, before I forget. It turned out absolutely delicious.

Ingredients & Directions

• several glugs of olive oil
• half a head of garlic
• [and/or] 1 onion or leek

Peel the garlic. Get out your stockpot and pour in enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Turn the heat on low and start cutting up the garlic (mince, crush, or slice - your choice). As the garlic cooks, cut up the onion or leek and add that too. (You can also add curry paste or spices at this point.) The garlic and onions will turn golden-brown and start to smell really good. To keep them from burning while you work on the other ingredients, throw in a mug-ful of water.

Add the following ingredients, or any ingredients you like. The soup mix and potato are strongly recommended.

• 1 cup of pre-soaked dry bean soup mix (I used North Bay's 32-bean mix. You could sub 1 cup of your favorite dried beans.)
• 1 large potato, diced
• 1 apple, diced
• celery? carrots? canned peas? frozen corn? dry lentils? beets? sweet potatoes? Look to your fridge for inspiration.
• 1 heaping tsp natural peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp thai red curry paste
• enough water to cover (you could use veggie or meat broth, but this soup tastes great even with just water)

Simmer for about 1 hour, or until the beans are squishy. You could also cook it all day in a crock pot if that's your thing.

A few minutes before serving, add the following, to taste (use 1/2-1 tsp for each of the herbs)

• salt and pepper
• thyme
• dill
• rosemary
• oregano
• basil
• parsley
• etc

If it's still bland at this point, add more herbs and maybe a little extra salt.

The rule of thumb, by the way, is that spices made of seeds, like cumin or coriander, go in at the beginning (this includes curry powder) whereas leafy green herbs, like basil, go in a few minutes from the end.

You'll notice that the potatoes have released some of their starch into the water, thickening the soup. If the soup isn't thick enough for you, boil it to reduce the water. (Some people prefer to cook the potatoes as the first step, before you even put the garlic in. Crazy, huh?)

Serve hot, with crusty bread if you've got it. Refrigerate the leftovers; they're even better the next day.

If that's not enough awesomeness for you, consider mixing other leftovers into your leftover soup. For lunch today I mixed in leftover brown rice and dal makhani.