Happy 2014: The Year of the Soup

A FB friend posted that eating cabbage on New Year’s Day means good luck. Well, Steve and I lucked out because we finished eating a second successful batch of homemade vegetable soup. The sequel was as good as the season premiere. Of course, it’s not perfect, but the soup was not burned, and no one died during or after the consumption of soup. That’s success in my book. I noticed Steve left a few chunks of carrots in the bottom of the soup, so note to self: slice the carrots so they are smaller.

So, you are probably wondering why I am geeking out over the creation of something as simple as vegetable soup. Because friends, I am not confident in the kitchen. I have always been afraid to mess up and/ or burn up the kitchen in the process. However, I had a culinary heart-to-heart chat with a friend and she gave me the wisdom and the confidence to try it. (I appreciate that many others have tried before her, on this day, somehow, it clicked.)

There are two main ingredients to vegetable soup: tomato juice and cabbage. Everything else is an added bonus. Here is the recipe that I learned –and I added a couple of ingredients. Thank you, S., for the inspiration.

Scorch-Friendly Vegetable Soup (Inspired by S.)
1. One can tomato juice (I used low-sodium V8 juice)
2. Approx. two cups of diced cabbage
3. A cup or two of diced celery
4. A cup or two of diced carrots
5. A can of diced potatoes (You can add two cans if you want your soup to be more like a stew)
6. Scattered parsley for taste and décor
7. A sprinkle of basil for flavor
8. Optional: mozzarella cheese to sprinkle over soup when served.

Get a big soup pot. Glance at clock; use a timer if needed. Your soup will be ready two hours later. Pour in tomato juice; set your stove to medium. Add in cabbage, celery, carrots, diced potatoes, and parsley. Stir occasionally (about every fifteen minutes or so) and put the lid over the pot. Sprinkle basil in soup. Before serving, add in mozzarella (or vegan-friendly) cheese and parsley for décor. Makes 4-6 servings.