This is simply a great, hearty vegetable soup. It’s perfect for warming up a cold winter evening or cooling down a hot summer night. (Because, even at 120 degrees, this soup is cooler than Texas after sundown.) Easy ingredient substitutions allow for either low fat or low carb diets.

Time to Table:	2 hours			Cal	Fat	Carb	Prot	Points
Prep Time:	1 hour		Full:	300	18	22	13	7
Servings:	about 10		Low Carb:	250	18	12	12	6
Serving Size:	12 oz		Low Fat:	160	7	18	8	3

Recipe

• 3 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
• ¹/2 medium onion, chopped or diced
• ³/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• crushed red pepper flakes
• basil flakes
• parsley
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 64 oz chicken broth
• carrots
• green beans
• corn
• 2 eggs
• 1 to 2 cups cooked brown rice
• meatballs (optional)

1. Heat oil or butter.
2. Sauté chopped onion, celery, and garlic.
3. Add basil, parsley, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes.
4. Add tomato sauce, bring to a low boil.
5. Add boiling chicken broth.
6. Add vegetables.
7. Beat eggs in separate bowl, drizzle into soup while stirring.
8. Add rice.
9. Cook and quarter meatballs, add to soup.
10. The longer it cooks, the better (at least an hour).

Tips

• Low fat version: Leave out the meatballs. Period.
• Low carb version: Leave out the rice and corn. Consider adding other, non-starchy veggies in their place.
• Start the broth at the beginning, so it’s boiling by the time you need it.
• If you don’t have cooked rice on hand, start that right now too!
• How much you chop the veggies depends on how “stocky” you like your soup. I’ve left them big and large and I’ve vaporized them in a food processor. Both are good.
• Stir the egg in slowly. You want it to turn out small and stringy, not one big clump.
• Feel free to add more vegetables. Carrots, beans, and corn are just a start.
• This soup is great with a kick: add hot sauce to your bowl before eating.
• If it loses too much moisture while cooking, feel free to add water. I almost always put another two cups in while cooking.
• Same goes for reheating. I fill a bowl about ⁴/5ths full, then top off with water before going in the microwave.

Photos

All the Stuff	Spices & Sauté
After the Sauce and Broth	Drop Those Eggs!
Quarter Those Meatballs	…and Watch for Splashing
Anticipation…	Cool It Off
Take a Sip	Blecch!

Backstory

Back in 2006, I tried a two-week detox diet. As someone who enjoys pizza and cheeseburgers the way I do (in other words, a normal person) this was a most difficult course of action. It took me a few days to adjust but I eventually found my footing. This recipe is one of the results of my efforts. Unfortunately, it didn’t begin well. From my book:

Day One of Fourteen. The program kicked off with the following initial stats: 220 lbs, 35% fat, 100% gross. While grocery shopping, I’d decided on soup for lunch. I found an organic, vegetable broth and decided to throw a few veggies in it. I did this without any forethought or planning and the result showed it. It was icky, icky soup. In fact, I wouldn’t even go all the way to “soup.” It was just nasty.

For dinner, I fixed a salad and it was worse than the soup, if that’s possible. I tried making my own simple oil and vinegar dressing, but it didn’t turn out well. The lettuce and the spinach weren’t very good either. I think I didn’t get them completely washed. A big plate of lawn clippings would have been a better meal.

To add insult to injury, about fourteen inches away was a half-eaten cheeseburger left by one of my daughters. I was so dejected and so miserable at this point that I very nearly quit right then and there. A cold, half-eaten cheeseburger would have been perfect. Only one thing got me through the wall: it was still Day One and I still wanted to give this a chance.

After that first disastrous attempt, I decided to put some actual thought into the recipe and eventually it turned into this. I now use chicken broth and added the meatballs, so it no longer fits a “detox” diet. Hence, I call this my toxic version. Enjoy!

1. Food that’s relatively easy to prepare.
2. Recipes that use fairly basic ingredients (including my favorite: humor).
3. I’m a picky eater, and you’ll find that reflected here.

That’s really about it. Don’t waste any more time on this page!

p.s. “Wait a minute. I was on this web site last week and it didn’t have any recipes on it. What happened?” Well, I’m glad you asked. This blog was initially the companion to Back to the Fridge. That blog was more traditional. I wanted to post longer food- and diet-related essays here. Well, after a month I decided to move all the commentary over there and open up this one for recipes. If you’re looking for the original The Elephant in the Room essay, I’ve moved it here.