There’s a rumor going around my new Washington D.C. hometown, a malicious lie regarding the return of an Indian summer. Who spreads these horrible speculations? Who drips this poison into willing ears? Find the bastards! String them up! Death to such infidels! No torture is too good for them!
Cooler weather means I can walk outside without melting, pull on lovely scarves and boots, and make soup. Don’t you just love a big pot of soup simmering on the stove? Who doesn’t, other than the bastard infidels spreading lies about the return of summer’s tortuous hot breath desiccating the landscape? Forget those liars. Let’s make soup.
Ingredients:
- 2 well-scrubbed medium parsnips (they’re the things that look like white carrots), cut into those ovally rounds (anyone know the name?)
- 2 well-scrubbed large carrots, cut into ovally rounds
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (15 mL)
- 4 shallots, rough diced
- 4 cups dry white wine (approx 1 L)
- 3 pint jars homemade canned diced tomatoes, including liquid (4.5 cups, or approx 1 L)
- 6 tsp Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base (15 mL)
- 1 pint jar homemade can corn, drained (approx same as commercial can, 1.5 cups undrained, or 475 mL)
- 1/2 head savoy cabbage, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 largish summer squash (or zucchini), cut into rounds
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 4 bay leaves
- Pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
See how big my pot is? Size matters, unless you like soup on your floor. Alternately you could just make less soup, but who wants to do that?
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in the largest pot you can find. No,that one is too small. This recipe makes copious amounts of soup. No, not that one either. I don’t care what your boyfriend says, size does matter. Is that the best you can do? *sigh*
- Saute the carrots and parsnips for 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon.
- Add the white wine and shallots, cook until fragrant, about another 5 minutes.
- Dissolve Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base in 3 cups boiling water, add bouillon, corn, and bay leaves to pot, bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
- Add squash, cumin, and coriander, simmer 5 minutes.
- Add cabbage, cook until just wilted and bright green, salt and pepper to taste.
- Eat quickly, before everyone else does!
The spoon gives the soup authentic flavor.
I’ve been making this vegetable soup for years, tweaking it little by little, based on my mother’s basic musgo recipe (that’s everything-that’s-in-the-fridge-that-must-go soup). It’s full of a wealth of late summer/early autumn vegetables, and straight from the stove, it has a rich array of bright colors. Since the recipe makes so much, I always share it round, eat it a couple times a week, and divide the rest into individual freezer-safe containers for the rest of the winter. This soup freezes fairly well, but must be frozen quickly, lest others discover how delicious it is and eat two bowls in one sitting and smuggle it to work for lunch every day, only for you to discover that there’s none left for you. *coughcoughroommateandboyfriendcoughcough* Everything will defrost a little softer, so if you’re planning on freezing but require only the most crisp vegetables in your defrosted soup, leave out the squash.
