Vegetable Stock: The Soup Solution

What’s my secret for getting through a busy week and still serving healthy meals?

Simple. Spending Sunday afternoon cooking soup.

My grandmother kept a stockpot simmering on the back burner on Sunday afternoons. She’d add leftover vegetables during the week’s cooking, fresh bits of herbs, a dash of salt. By evening she’d have a rich broth, low in fat and high in flavor. It became the substance of the next week’s soup.

Soups seem deceptively simple to make, but creating a truly flavorful pot is a test of any cook’s skill. I’m always surprised how few people really know how to do it. There’s a myth that heating a pot of water, throwing in some spare vegetables and simmering it for an hour or two will bring good results. Most soups made like this end up heavily seasoned with salt and pepper, just to get a little flavor.

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Memorable vegetable soups come from three elements: a good stock, a thorough saute of flavorful vegetables and hearty ingredients.

Stock is easily made. Like my grandmother, I simmer spare vegetables in water to cover for an hour or two, then strain. Vegetarian stock can be frozen for up to six months (ice cube trays are good for this; just store frozen stock cubes in a self-sealing plastic food bag). Many chefs believe that stock is the key ingredient for flavorful soups.

After stock, a saute of the soup vegetables is the most important contributor to flavor. This step separates the full-bodied soup from the weak and puny. Intensely flavored vegetables, such as onions and garlic, release their sweeter side only when cooked over the direct heat of a saute, which is much hotter than the slow heat of a simmering pot.

What goes in the pot first in a soup saute? Being a gardener, I mentally slice a cross-section of my summer garden to gauge the saute order. Vegetables that grow below ground--onions and root vegetables--are the toughest and take the longest to cook, so saute them first. Next into the pot are vegetables that grow at ground level--celery, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower. Finally the vine vegetables go in--tomatoes, peas, beans.

Spices and herbs, whether fresh or dried, enhance this flavor base. Because they continue to release flavor as the soup stands, I often make soup the day before I serve it. An overnight stay in the refrigerator often doubles the richness.

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Most winter soups need to be thick and hearty to satisfy. Heartiness usually comes from fat, but vegetables, beans or grains that break down as they cook also contribute. Lima beans, winter squash, orzo pasta, split peas and lentils all naturally thicken a vegetarian soup.

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The secret to this rich, yet light, soup is the slow cooking of the onions. As in all these soups, low-sodium soy sauce could substitute for regular soy sauce (either way, tamari soy is preferable because it’s more flavorful) and low-fat stock for regular stock.

FRENCH ONION SOUP WITH BROWNED GARLIC

1 teaspoon oil

1 cup dry Sherry, white wine or water

4 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

8 to 10 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon pastry flour

4 cups vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt or soy sauce

6 slices French bread, toasted

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Heat oil and Sherry in large Dutch oven until bubbling. Add onions. Reduce heat to medium. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, at least 20 minutes until onions become paste-like. Add garlic and continue cooking 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic begins to brown. Add flour. Stir well and cook 2 minutes.

Add stock. Increase heat to high. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer 20 minutes. Add pepper and season to taste with salt or soy. To serve, ladle soup into 6 soup bowls. Float slice of toasted French bread on top of each and sprinkle with optional Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

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A mixture of wild and domestic mushrooms gives this soup its rich and satisfying texture.

WILD MUSHROOM- BARLEY SOUP

1/2 cup uncooked barley

2 cups diced, peeled, red potatoes

4 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup white wine or apple cider

1/3 cup Sherry, optional

2 cups thinly sliced onions

3 cups sliced shiitake or chanterelle mushrooms

3 cups sliced white mushrooms

2 tablespoons minced garlic or to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 tablespoons minced parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Combine barley, potatoes and stock in large stockpot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender and barley is cooked.

Meanwhile, heat wine and Sherry in heavy soup pot. Add onions and saute 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid browning. Add mushrooms and garlic. Continue cooking over medium-high heat until mushrooms begin to exude moisture. Add potatoes, barley and stock. Heat through. Add basil, parsley, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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This delicious sweet beet soup was adapted from a recipe by Brenda Langton, owner of Cafe Brenda in Minneapolis.

SWEET BEET SOUP WITH ORANGE

1 teaspoon butter or vegetable oil

1/4 cup apple juice

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 pounds beets, scrubbed but not peeled, diced

4 cups vegetable stock

Juice 4 medium oranges

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

White pepper

Grated orange zest

Plain unflavored yogurt

Heat butter and apple juice in large soup pot until bubbling. Add garlic and onion. Saute until tender but not browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add beets and stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until beets are tender. Let cool.

Puree in batches in blender. Return pureed soup to pot. Add orange juice, honey and vinegar. Heat through. Season to taste with white pepper. Serve hot, garnished with orange zest and dollops of yogurt. Makes 4 to 6 servings.