Vegetable soup question

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giggler

Sous Chef
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
713
Location
Austin, TX.
I don't like my veggie soup.

I ussualy clear out my veggie bins on sunday, so:

1/2 onion
hand full of little carrots
a bell pepper
some bottom celery

fry in oil in soup pot till soft.

add 1 qt water and spices, usully thyme and salt and bay leaf.

cook 30 min.

then add softer veggies.

chopped tomatos
hot peppers
mushrooms

then zuccini
etc.

cook 30 more min.

The broth is ussually very good, but the veggies are bland.

I am looking for a lighter soup, where the veggies stil have some texture and individual flavor.

I have seen recipies where you make the broth first, then strain, then add finely diced veggies at the end.But this seems redundant.

how do Y'all make your veggie soup?

Thanks, Eric, Austin Tx.
 
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Or you can use Better Than Bullion base. Chicken, Beef or Vegetable. Your choice. Cook the veggies in the broth. It will give them a lot of flavor. I don't sauté my veggies. Why leave any flavor in the oil? Leave it in the broth. Potatoes, carrots, celery, and others in order of time required to bring to a finished veggie. Don't expect your veggies to give your broth a full flavor and don't expect your broth to give your veggies their flavor. It is a marriage of the both. :angel:
 
I agree with Andy and Addie - vegetable or chicken stock instead of water. Also, it needs garlic! - Saute it with the onion, etc. And I'm with you on sauteing them in the oil first, especially the onion, garlic, and celery - they definitely add much more flavor to the broth when doing them in oil first. Just cooking them in the broth will add less flavor.

In addition, you're cooking the "softer veggies" too long - add them much later so they don't become mushy and lose taste.
 
I don't like my veggie soup.

I ussualy clear out my veggie bins on sunday, so:

1/2 onion
hand full of little carrots
a bell pepper
some bottom celery

fry in oil in soup pot till soft.

add 1 qt water and spices, usully thyme and salt and bay leaf.

cook 30 min.

then add softer veggies.

chopped tomatos
hot peppers
mushrooms

then zuccini
etc.

cook 30 more min.

The broth is ussually very good, but the veggies are bland.

I am looking for a lighter soup, where the veggies stil have some texture and individual flavor.

I have seen recipes where you make the broth first, then strain, then add finely diced veggies at the end.But this seems redundant.

how do Y'all make your veggie soup?

Thanks, Eric, Austin Tx.

Actually, that's not any more redundant than making chicken stock with chicken bones, bits of chicken, some aromatic veggies and then throwing out the solids. By the same token, by the time your veggies have cooked enough to make a flavorful broth all the flavor has left them. As the others have mentioned, an easier way is to start with vegetable broth instead of water and then cook the veggies for a shorter amount of time.
 
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Marjoram whole stems of parsley and a couple bay leaves are good soup herbs. You can fish out the parsley later. Add some savory, thyme or dill or oregano if you want the herbs to more influence the flavor. Otherwise, the first ones just work in the background to enhance. I see you put in hot peppers. I always toss in 1-3 whole dried thai chile peppers, because that's what I grow and have in a jar.

If I have any or some of these -- I like to add green beans, corn, broccoli; and something in the pea family-- pea pods, sugar snaps or frozen peas added right before serving. For a clearer broth not red color, real tomato chunks, not canned.

I had some soup recent. I didn't think I would care for hot soup in hot weather. It was quite tasty.
 
I save my trimmings from veg during the week and make those into my veg stock before i create a soup. If you are putting tomatoes in, the trimmings and seeds should go in the stock, too. Woody herbs can go in then, too. Strain and then create your sauteed vegs, add in the rest until they are tender. Roasting your trimmings prior to boiling for stock will add another layer of flavor. And definitely garlic!!!
 
adding stock or bullion cubes is a good idea, or simply go heavy on seasoning that will help. At least that is what I do when I clean my refrigerator veggie been.
 
I save my trimmings from veg during the week and make those into my veg stock before i create a soup.....
^This^ If you don't have that many veggie scraps just put them into a bag in the freezer. I might wait a month before I have enough to make it worth my while.


.....I had some soup recent. I didn't think I would care for hot soup in hot weather. It was quite tasty.
Mom or my Great Aunt would make soup no matter what the weather. No AC in the house. When it was hot AND we had soup I'd complain about it making me sweat. She said to make sure I did it in the bowl since that would give me more soup. Haha. :rolleyes:
 
I don't add a measured amount of water to soup. I only add enough water to barely cover the vegetables in the pot. If I have it on hand, I add some vegetable stock.
 
I love how you were able to make a good veggie stock that tasted really good. I would pulverize the veggies used to make the stock and add them in and then add some more veggies that you wouldn't have to cook as much. I also sauté the onions, etc. to get the most flavor. You need more veggies to do it this way, but your own home made veggie stock is probably better than the stock you could buy. :yum:
 
I often add a bottle of beer (a pilsner or lager) to soup to enrich the broth. Just a thought...
 
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