This soup is an opportunity to actually use all of the vegetables you have purchased because you believe deep down that you are a healthy person with pure intentions, but which you neglected for weeks to cook. Or perhaps you are going on a roadtrip and need to gut the fridge. I regret that I took no photographs of the Almost Dead Veggie Soup, also fondly referred to as Resurrection Soup, or Road Trip Soup. But I did take this photo of Izzy, a hibernating winter bear, lying almost dead with her rear-end squared over the heating vent by the side door. Just out of view is her now entirely dead red Frisbee, which, when it was still with us, she kept watch over by day and night.
Almost Dead Vegetable Soup
2 cups black beans
1 squash (acorn or butternut)
1 -2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
I green pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves or a shallot, minced
3 celery ribs, sliced
3 cups vegetable stock
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup corn
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons chili power
1 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper
Directions:
If you have a squash in half and scoop out seeds. Bake squash halves, cut side up, in a 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until tender.
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute over medium heat, stirring often until golden, about 10 minutes.
Add bell pepper, garlic and celery and saute for 5-10 minutes.
Scoop cooked squash out of shell. (Then say the last sentence three times as fast as you can.) Add to onion mixture and mix well, smoothing out any large lumps.
Add stock and bring to a boil.
Turn down heat and add beans, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Because no vegetable should go to waste.
Your Grampa Fodie called this ‘suicide soup’…same recipe, often included a large can of tomato sauce and nearly anything in the vegetable drawer. Cheers and do I need to send a replacement frisbee?
How Strange– must be genetic then! Izzy’s 5th birthday is next week, Feb 28th, and the only frisbee in the world she loves is the red Hartz Tuff Stuff Flyer. Kmart stocks them in Rochester. So, if you want that to be the birthday present from Grandma…yes!
I read your blog every day! I am considering a blog to share with family members the history of our family beginning in mid 1880’s with pictures and written documents I have. Old family recipes and old cooking utensils, letters, clothing, etc. Is a blog a way to share info. I am the holder and keeper of many documents, pictures, items and knowledge. If I do not share, the family information will be lost. I have some information in Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com but want another medium with easy access for cousins of all ages. Or is there a more efficient way to share family history.
Would love to visit with you.
Your interviewer at Mayo Medical School!
Suzanne, so honored! Would love to meet with you and tell you all the little secrets I’ve learned over the last year and a half. Blogs are much more reliable scrapbook, I’d say. And your potential audience is often more far-reaching than you could ever imagine. Let’s chat!
The seasonings sound amazing!
Happy Early Birthday, Izzy! Half-decade, that’s a milestone 🙂