Sunday, November 1, 2009

Larry's Homemade Vegetable Soup

Here's my original recipe for homemade vegetable soup. I didn't plan on sounding slightly metrosexual on my first post, but I have a (female) friend in L.A. named J. who likes talking about (and eating) all kinds of interesting soups, so this is dedicated to her. Future posts will be less metrosexual sounding and much more hetero in both length and girth.

Ingredients
: all vegetables must be fresh, thoroughly washed and unpeeled
1 large green cabbage
2 quarts of fresh, cold, filtered water
2 fresh beets
1 whole celery, the whole thing, not just 1 stalk
4 yellow or white onions
8 carrots
3 white rose potatoes, sliced
15 fresh whole green beans
2 turnips
6 parsnips
4 tomatoes
2 yellow zucchinis
1 red bell pepper
1 - 2 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 plastic package of Manischewitz vegetable soup mix
1 can of Trader Joe's whole kernel corn, 15 oz.
1 package tofu -- House Brand Medium Firm, 14 oz. blue package, or House Brand Firm, 14 oz. red package.

I recommend a 12-quart kettle for cooking. If you use an 8-quart size, there won't be enough room for everything. You may ask, "Why don't you use less ingredients so it will all fit in my 8-quart pot? I don't have a 12-quart pot." That's a reasonable question. The answer is that it's just as easy to make this in a larger quantity so it's available to eat for many more meals. That's why. This recipe is geared for a 12-quart pot. You got any more questions, I don't wanna hear 'em.

Okay, add about 1 quart of water to the pot and bring to a boil.

Chop up the whole cabbage. Don't make it too small; chop everything into nice sized, chunky, edible pieces. Be sure to use a cutting board and a good 8" chef's knife. Don't be a dumbass and use a plastic knife or a crappy dinner kife. Use a real knife, stainless steel, made in Germany even better.

Reduce heat to low boil.

Next, slice up the onions and add to the pot.
Add chopped (or sliced) carrots, turnips, celery, parsnips, bell pepper, beets, zucchinis. Don't chop everything too small, This soup is for men and quality women, not weenies.
Add 1 more quart of water. You can add more or less water, as desired.
Bring back to low boil.
Add mushrooms, cubed tofu, and soup mix, canned corn (with the liquid), green beans and potatoes.
Lower heat and simmer covered for 2 - 3 hours. Stir occasionally.
I don't add any salt, pepper or seasonings. You may if you choose to, but then it becomes your recipe, not mine.

Ready to serve. Yields about 15 stomach-satisfying servings. Store the kettle in the fridge. Serve hot or cold.

There you go.


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