Why I LOVE Souptacular so much… let me count the ways.
For years I have ordered and used your soups. Perhaps when you first created them.
I always use a crockpot and with my glass (freezer and microwave safe) containers have at least three version of a two cup portion soup ready for a quick lunch or dinner. Our family’s schedule was always out of synch with our appetites, so having these ready to warm up served us well during our working lives.
Now that we have adult children who no longer live with us, we find these soups still serve us well. It keeps us super healthy with nutrient-dense foods and there is never a big fuss in the kitchen to clean up, as we do our various hobbies and work. Which includes teaching yoga and playing bagpipes.
I often will add the following to any of the soups:
- A frozen piece of the rind of Parmesan cheese, remove it when soup is completed. Especially good with the Split Green Pea soup. I love that one, but it is not my husband’s favourite, so I always have a choice in the freezer.
- Any and all older veggies from the fridge.
- Fennel fronds.( we have lots of that here on the coast)
- Rosemary sprig from the garden fresh herbs at the end , also from the garden.
- A can of unsalted tomatoes, I love the ones from Italy, they taste like sunshine.
- Barley, the slow cooking kind. This really makes the soup “last” as it creates a full satisfied feeling for hours after.
- Extra lentils, when they are on hand. I also try out various broths, that are low sodium for the base instead of water.
- Wild rice in the winter months.
- Chopped up yams for extra texture and colour. We love squash of all type and this takes the soup to a very nice stew texture.
For the tandoori soup, we add more curry or have some hot sauce to add at the table. We have different taste buds at our home.
So even though we have had the “same” soups for so many years, we can make them seem new and different or just feel comfortable with the original flavours.
I give these soups as hostess gifts and little comfort gifts whenever I can. They are so appreciated. Whenever I meet a friend for lunch, or know someone is having a difficult day, they get a package of soup and some tea. Then the good feelings can last longer than the moment of meeting.
Some of my best ideas come from a cook book by Anna Thomas called Love Soup. I alternate between the souptacular soups and her soups, when I feel soup-inspired.
Have a wonderful weekend and thank-you for your kind words.
Kindly, Paula Carey