It’s gotten really cold outside.  I mean so cold that the other day as I was leaving the house and I had to actually think about whether my hair was dry or not.  Nothing like a frozen head in the morning!  Anyway, I digress.  When it gets this cold I love nothing more than a warm cup of soup.  It serves many purposes.  First, it’s tasty.  Second, it’s a good hand warmer when you’re sitting at your desk at work and it feels like the heat isn’t on.

So how do you make a soup?  Well, first, you start off with a soup base, preferably something you’ve made from scratch.  There are many different kinds of stocks, fish, beef, chicken, vegetable.  At work I mainly make a vegetable stock for a couple of reasons.  First, there are always veggie scraps laying around.  Second, I’m usually serving a decent portion of people on vegetarian and vegan diets.  I’ve found that if you just go with a veggie stock in most everything you’re safe.  Of course, stock can be used for many different things.  You can cook your rice with it.  You can add it to a dish if you need more liquid.  You could steam your veggies with it, think asparagus or broccoli.

Here is a pot of veggie stock that I made earlier this week.  I used it as a base for a butternut squash soup. I ate the soup all week long and even shared it with friends.   On top of making that soup I made a chicken and barley soup that I froze so I could just take it out and bring it to work on days I’m not in the kitchen.

Above is a picture of the chicken stock that I made as a base for the chicken barley soup.  Sure, there are more refined ways and recipes for stock but basically what I do is take the chicken carcass add some veggies like onions, carrots, celery and aromatics like thyme, bay leaves etc. and simmer for a few hours.  Then you drain it and you’re all set!

In the coming months, weeks, etc. I’ll try to write down the recipes and then post them here for my soups.  Honestly, I’ve become the king of making anything out of soup, even vegetable lasagna!  It’s a great way to use things up and not waste anything.  Below is my chicken soup cooking away with the veggie stock!  Have a great day everyone!