Let’s Cook!
Linda Hoskins
One of the things I most look forward to in the fall is soup! I love soup, especially home made soup. So I am reprinting two of my favorite soup recipes. This first one is a healthy and hearty vegetable soup, and you can add meat to it if you like. My husband prefers meat so sometimes I add browned hamburger or beef chunks. This recipe calls for V-8 juice, and I like to use the “hot” V-8 for the extra kick. This also calls for marjoram seasoning, if you don’t have it on hand, skip it. You really won’t notice the difference. This does call for a lot of ingredients and chopping, but it is worth the effort and time. It makes a lot of soup, and you can adapt it to your tastes, omit a veggie you don’t like, add one you do.
Hearty Vegetable Soup
8 med carrots, sliced
2 lg. onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 cups water
28 oz. diced tomatoes
2 cups V-8 juice
2 cups chopped cabbage
2 cups frozen green beans
2 cups frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
15 oz. garbanzo or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp pepper
In soup pot, saute carrots, onions, celery, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until crisp-tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover ansd simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours till veggies tender. Discard bay leaf.
This next one is Pasta Fagioli, and tastes just like the soup from Olive Garden. This recipe cooks in the slow cooker.
Pasta Fagioli Soup
2 lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
16 oz red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
16 oz white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 10 oz cans beef stock
3 tsp oregano
2 tsp pepper
5 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
20 oz pasta sauce
8 oz mini pasta
Brown hamburger, drain. Add to a slow cooker with everything but the pasta. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, adding pasta for the last hour. (OR cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, adding pasta the last half hour.
If you have a recipe to share, please send to letscook!@heraldpubs.com or mail to Mascoutah Herald, PO Box C, Mascoutah IL 62258. Thanks and Happy Cooking!
