Awesome Veggie Soup
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)
- Heat oil or butter.
- Sauté chopped onion, celery, and garlic.
- Add basil, parsley, and a few shakes of red pepper flakes.
- Add tomato sauce, bring to a low boil.
- Add boiling chicken broth.
- Add vegetables.
- Beat eggs in separate bowl, drizzle into soup while stirring.
- Add rice.
- Cook and quarter meatballs, add to soup.
- The longer it cooks, the better (at least an hour).
- 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.
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| All the Stuff | Spices & Sauté |
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| After the Sauce and Broth | Drop Those Eggs! |
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| Quarter Those Meatballs | …and Watch for Splashing |
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| Anticipation… | Cool It Off |
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| Take a Sip | Blecch! |
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. I’ve since changed the post title to just “Awesome Veggie Soup” since that’s probably easier for the casual surfer to digest. Enjoy!
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Biz said:
on July 1, 2008 at 10:07 am
I can eat soup all year round, as long as I am in air conditioning!
I’ll have to put this on the list to try. Thanks Charlie!