Where Yoga Meets Meditation
January 11th, 2011
By Jenn Hwang, Contributing Writer
It’s week 2—how did everyone’s first week go? After a couple days of not eating quite enough, I managed to get into a good groove towards the end of the week. So I woke up today feeling pretty good. Hope you’re all feeling good, too!
It’s been really cold lately, and they say it’s going to rain this week. A perfect time for soup! To make soup, it helps to start with a good veggie broth. Of course, you can buy veggie broth, but it’s simple enough to make your own and then use it as a base for all sorts of soups and sauces. There are a lot of variations, but here’s my version for a simple, all-purpose veggie broth.
Veggie Broth
10 cups cold water
2 medium leeks (use only the white and light green parts)
3 medium carrots or 2 large carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 onion
3-4 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ sprig of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
Salt
Chop leeks, carrots, celery and onion into chunks. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté vegetables and garlic over medium-high heat until onions and leeks soften – about 10 minutes or so. Add 10 cups of water, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Add 3 big pinches of salt (don’t overdo it, you can always add more). Bring to a boil then lower heat and let simmer uncovered. After 30 minutes, give it a stir and taste it. Add more salt at this point if you want, but this is meant to be used as a base for other things so it’s better for it to be undersalted than oversalted. Simmer for another 15-30 minutes depending on how flavorful the broth already is after you taste it. Strain broth. You should have about 5-6 cups, give or take a cup. You can refrigerate the broth for a few days or freeze the extra to use later.
Now that you have veggie broth, make soup! Some ideas:
Cauliflower soup: Add 3 cups of cauliflower cut into 1-inch pieces and a cube of pecorino romano or parmesan cheese to 2 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until cauliflower is tender (about 20 minutes). Puree the soup until smooth (in a blender or with a hand blender). Return to pot and add some cream for a richer soup or more broth if you need to thin out the soup. Add a dash of truffle oil if you have it, and enjoy.
Vegetable soup: Sauté diced carrots, zucchini, onions, garlic, potatoes in a pan until onions soften. Add broth (as much as you need), a can of diced tomatoes with their juice, chopped chard, some herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc.), salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add frozen peas and ½ can of cannellini beans (rinse before adding). Heat through, sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired and serve.
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