Zen Soup

Zen Soup

As women, I believe we possess a creative gene that if kept dormant will eventually find its way into our everyday coping mechanisms.  My gene has made its way into my life through cooking, and it is though cooking that I find tolerance for life’s annoyances and curve balls.  This story is not about “self help” as it is about making great food!  I promise, that if you take the time to try this recipes or hell completely ignore it, and make something up as you go along, you will find a certain Zen like feeling come over you, maybe even feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  Is that the spirit of some long ago gray haired matron welding a wooden spoon and silently scrutinizing from above?  Who knows, just go with it. 

Why soup? Soup is stress free.  It is easy to make, buy some decent ingredients, add them to liquid, and wait.  Now of course there is more to it than that, but not too much more.  What makes it so amazing is how inspired you feel while adding a pinch of this or a sprinkle of that to your bubbling cauldron of goodness.  You begin to feel uninhibited, creative, liberated.  You start making executive decisions; maybe I’ll add this or omit that, what if I used fresh herbs when the recipe calls for dry?  Who cares… just lose yourself in the power of soup.

Now to set the mood, put on some music or light a candle (I keep a small Buddha next to the dish soup). Create an atmosphere which projects you away from your daily grind, and directs you toward a simpler time of working with your hands to create something bountiful and nutritious.  Some people actually cook in the buff, saying it makes them feel as one with the food, raw and natural.  I’m not too sure about this, it actually would freak me out, but set whatever stage you would like to perform on – it’s your show!

Ok you’re saying, where is the recipe?  It’s coming, but first we must prep!  To make good soup fast, you need to keep some staples on hand.  This helps de-stress the cooking process.  I recommend keeping the following on hand: Chicken stock/broth, canned white beans, frozen or fresh Spinach, dry herbs like parsley, oregano, basil, kosher salt, fresh pepper, garlic, carrots, celery, celery salt, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and maybe dry pastina (small pasta).  Most stuff will keep for a while; so don’t worry too much about waste.

I find such solace in slicing and hopefully you will too.  Let’s make an easy white bean and pasta soup.  For us Italians it is called Pasta Fagoli – or pasta with beans.  It is an easy dinner or lunch menu, which can be completed with crusty bread and a salad.  This soup freezes well and keeps in the icebox for about 4 days before it starts to get funky.

You will need:

v          Olive Oil
v          Garlic – 2 to 3 cloves
v          Carrots – 2-3 large
v          Celery – a bunch
v          Onion – ½ to a whole small – whatever your taste
v          1 to 2 Cans White Beans – Rinsed lightly and drained
v          8-10 cups or so of chick broth or stock – home made, canned, frozen,  made with the powder chicken stuff and water – doesn’t bother me just use about 8 - 10 cups of the stuff.

v          Tomato Sauce – about ½ cup or more if you like
v          Dried parsley, basil, salt, pepper – to taste
v          Bay Leaf – dry or fresh – 2 in liquid while cooking
v          2 cups of small pasta- use the little stars, elbows or any other tiny pasta
v          Fresh Parmesan Cheese – not the shaker stuff

Alterations – Add frozen spinach or escarole while the soup is brewing
Sautee some ham or bacon with the onion in the beginning to add a smoky taste
Leave something out, add something in – who cares – it’s your soup!

v          Chop the garlic, onion, celery, and carrots – put aside
v          Open the can or cans of beans – drain and rinse – put aside
v          Open the cans or make the chicken stock and put aside
v          Get tomato sauce ready
v          Put the box of pasta on the counter
v          Take out the dry herbs and put next to the pasta on the counter
v          Leave the cheese in the fridge or it will start to smell like feet

Ok the music is on, the candles are burning, you are feeling like the goddess you know you are. Your hands smell like garlic, carrot peels hang from your shirt, your sink is filled with rinsed beans and you my friend are ready to start cooking!

Get our your medium to large heavy bottomed pot – turn the burner on medium and set the pot down.

Add in enough oil to lightly coat the bottom.
Add in the onions, celery & carrots – and the bacon or ham if using
Hear the music they make as they dance in the pot!  Stir your morsels of happiness so they don’t burn. 
Add the garlic – don’t burn it or your soup will taste like burnt garlic
Let the onion, celery, carrot & garlic mingle flavors – stir gently
Add the stock – slowly or it will jump back at you
Lower the heat and give it a quick stir
Now add as much or as little of the dried seasonings, salt and pepper – remember you can always add more and cook it longer – but you cant’ take it out once you’ve added it – so go slow and keep tasting as you go along. 
Add the beans
Let the soup simmer for a while – like a sleeping baby, check on it every so often and give a taste – not the baby the soup. 

This is when we add more seasoning and check our vegetables for the consistency we want.  Once you feel it is almost there flavor wise – maybe a half-hour or maybe longer…add the pastinas.  Let them cook directly in the soup and watch your soup become a meal as it thickens and gains body.  Now if you want it hardier, add more pasta – less hardy, add less pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, you are done.  Plate up with some fresh or dried parsley added for color, and a nice sprinkling of parmagina cheese for taste.  I promise that when you sit down to enjoy this bountiful meal, you will be relaxed, restored and reenergized.  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.  If you would like more recipes please leave word.  Some other soups, which are easy and satisfying, are Butternut squash, vegetable, and an Asian style quick vegetable soup.  Please let me know if you are interested.  Thank you!