Sprinkle, Splash, Swirl & Savor

root veggies

Every now and then I peek inside my refrigerator and gasp at all the duplicate items that show up there. I wouldn’t call myself a “hoarder” but sometimes, even the best laid plans escape me and I find myself grabbing that extra bag of carrots or a few more sweet potatoes. Just in case.

Yes, I teach menu planning and kitchen rhythm but the reality is, we lead very busy lives, you and me, and sometimes we have to be able to just look in the refrigerator or freezer and see what we have on hand. And then, we play.

I was going to call this “Clean Out Your Refrigerator Soup” because that’s what it is but I’ll call it Roasted Vegetable Soup instead to make it sound more exotic.

Now here’s where I’m going to ask you to take a leap of faith with me and pretend you’re a culinary rock star who needs no recipe because the object in cleaning out your refrigerator is using up what you have, right? I had a lot of root vegetables on hand: carrots, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, onions and a few cloves of garlic. So, I cut them all up and tossed them with some lemon infused olive oil and into the roasting pan they went.

We’re moving into spring so it was time to use up the rest of the magic mineral broth in my freezer because I won’t be making soup this summer. While the vegetables were roasting, I simmered the vegetable broth and roughly chopped some collard greens that were begging for attention. In went the roasted vegetables, followed by the greens and pretty soon I had a lovely roasted vegetable soup. (Grandma would be smiling here.)

Okay, if this Sprinkle, Splash, Swirl & Savor™ approach sounds appealing to you but you need a little hand holding, I just started a new round of Clueless in the Kitchen and you can still jump in!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
3 or 4 sweet potatoes
5 or 6 carrots
2-3 red potatoes
1 large sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 bunch collard greens or kale
extra virgin olive oil or lemon infused olive oil
1 1/2 quarts magic mineral broth, vegetable stock or chicken stock
Himalayan salt
freshly ground pepper
white beans (optional)
whole grains (optional)

Cut vegetables into bite size pieces and toss with high quality extra virgin olive oil or lemon infused olive oil. Roast vegetables in 425 degree oven until the onions are caramelized and the vegetables tender. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable stock in a large soup pan or Dutch Oven and chop your greens. Be sure to remove any tough stems or ribs. Add vegetables to the stock and season with a splash of white balsamic vinegar, freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt. Just before you’re ready to serve the soup, add your greens until just wilted. Enjoy!

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Master of Disguise Tip
When I’m teaching my culinary classes I show my students how to become a master of disguise so that they don’t have to listen to family members moan, “Leftovers? No way!” That’s enough to send any culinary rock star back to Healthy Pizza Gourmet. So, what do we do? We freeze the soup for future use. Or, we enjoy it for lunch the next day and add something new to the pot like white beans or a gorgeous ancient grain. (I’m loving wheat berries right now.) Or, we become a master of disquise and we puree the soup and call it potage. Be prepared for a less vibrant color display when you blend it, however.

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Meanwhile, tell me some of YOUR master of disguise tricks.

13 thoughts on “Sprinkle, Splash, Swirl & Savor”

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    Ohhhhh…this reads yummy and the photo smells yummy:) You won’t mind if I leave the garlic out, will you? I’m allergic (I know…bummer).

    As I was reading I have to say that I felt like I was back in my mom’s kitchen as a little girl on a Sunday. She would look in the fridge and ‘play’. We’d have soup off and on during the week and for a single mom I think it must have been such a blessing to have collected, hoarded or just had the money to have extra food.

    We really are blessed in our world now. So…I think I’ll show my husband your pics to inspire him…I love his soup! xo

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    Sue Ann, I’m smilin’ along with your Grandma! Yup. Wise cooks know how to “recycle creatively”… never the same meal twice, but every meal twice as sumptuous. You definitely have the knack!

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    In my house, it’s called “Dinner Surprise.” I’d fill up a huge pot with water and throw a bunch of veggies and leftover pasta. These soups were always a hit with my husband. I love your suggestion of roasting the vegetables then adding them to the soup. I will try that next time.

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    I am a big fan of ‘clean out the fridge soup’. Sometimes I take half and purée it and pour if back in to thicken it up.

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    This looks wonderful–the lazy girl in me wishes that I didn’t have to roast first! But I have so many of these ingredients waiting to be made into soup, so off I go!

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    Oh, I can almost smell your pictures! I think this is what we will have next week. I like the added beans. I haven’t done that, but i think, next week, I will. Thanks! Each week, through my spiritual practice this time of year, we make sure we eat very well, and, we make a soup for the week, from the chicken we eat and make a healthy stock… We buy what’s on sale veggie wise … and clean out the fridge with left overs… oh my … such nourishment… The master of disguise for me is in the pureeing! (Is that a word?) and sometimes, just adding a bunch of parsley at the last minute as a topping makes it look like it was just made…. I think I might have to go and eat some now! 😉 Here’s to adding beans next week!!!! Thank you xo

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    my “clean out the refrigerator” meals are never this beautiful! i love your gorgeous way, sue ann, of always making “simple” look and feel “extraordinary.”

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    I do that, too. I’ll go to the store and wonder if I have onions or garlic or some other ingredient and then buy more. But it all gets used somehow. And I absolutely love peeking into the cabinets and refrigerator and creating a dish with what I had on hand. Before I left for my most recent trip, I tried using up whatever I had available and I made some fun meals.

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