Garbage Soup

First, let me preface this entry by saying that this adventure in cooking was not authentic Garbage Soup. I mentioned earlier that I am Cleansing, and tomorrow is my "broth" day, so I went out and bought a bunch of veggies to make broth with. Authentic Garbage Soup needs no purchases to be amazing.

When my dad was growing up, once a week my grandma would empty out the fridge and make a soup. This became known as Garbage Soup. I decided to pick up this tradition when I moved to NYC. I belonged to Urban Organic (http://urbanorganic.com) which is this amazing service where you get a box of organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your door every week. My roommates and I always anxiously awaited our box to see what we'd get in that week's box. Unfortunately, we noticed that no matter how much we wanted to eat it all, some things would always end up going to waste, whether it was from our "box" or veggies that we had purchased in the store. This is when I decided that it was time for some Garbage Soup. Thanks to my Aunt Maureen and Lindsay for years of J.C.Penney gift cards, I was able to purchase my very own, super-duper amazing Crock Pot. I'm sure Gramma didn't have a Crock Pot when she made it, but she also didn't have to go to work. The idea is that you take a bunch of stuff, whatever's going bad or that you have lying around, and throw it in a pot, or Crock Pot, and make an amazing soup.

One thing you have to realize with this "recipe" is that there is really no recipe for Garbage Soup. It all depends on what you have to throw in. There are, of course, some staples that make for a decent base broth: celery, carrots, some type of onion and, of course, garlic! With those ingredients, you'll have a very typical vegetable broth flavor, but you don't really need to fret if you're missing something. That's the beauty of Garbage Soup: whatever you throw in will taste great!

What follows is my process this time around, though it's different every time. Maybe I'll post different variations as they come up, but this time, I was focused on the fact that I haven't eaten real food in 2 weeks and I want yummy flavors!!

INGREDIENTS:
2+ TBSP Olive Oil
Water
Vegetables
This time I used (all Organic):
1 package of Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 package of sliced Portabella mushrooms
1 large leek, sliced thickly
6 cloves of garlic
2-3 cups of celery
4 large carrots
1 bunch kale
2 tomatoes

Spices, to taste
This time I used:
dried thyme
dried oregano
fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
cayenne pepper
sea salt
fresh ground mixed pepper







First, heat up the olive oil. Keep it handy because if the vegetables start burning or sticking, you should add more! If you're Crock Pot is awesome like mine, you can use it on the stove. Otherwise, start with a large pot and then you can transfer to a Crock Pot (or, if you'll be home all day, leave it on the stove.) Cooking the vegetables first brings out their rich flavor. I started this time with the mushrooms. It really gives almost a meaty flavor to the soup.

You also always want to cook your onions this way. I used leeks this time. I let the mushrooms simmer for a couple of minutes until they darkened in color, then I added the leeks. If you are not using mushrooms, cook the onions first. Don't let them start to caramelize, just cook them long enough so that they are rich and soft.











Next, my favorite part: garlic. I am a huge believer that you can never have too much garlic. In a soup like this, I like to hand crush the garlic. Place a peeled clove under the butt of a knife (a butter knife might be slightly safer than the one I used) and put the heel of your hand on the knife. Make sure that the blade is facing away from you! Hit down with your hand and the garlic should crush and break apart a bit. Add these to the pot and simmer until you can smell a nice, garlicky aroma.







Once everything is cooked and smelling nicely, add the water. I filled my Crock Pot which holds about 6 quarts.



Now, we can add the rest of the vegetables. I always like to use the center part of a celery heart in soup. It's the part with all the leaves that most people cut off or throw away. This has the most flavor out of the whole heart, so make sure you always save the leaves for soups!! Celery always softens up really nicely in soup, so don't worry about cutting it too small unless you really want to.


Carrots may just be my favorite vegetable, or at least the one that I eat the most of, so they definitely deserve to be in Garbage Soup and I always have plenty lying around to throw in. Although they will soften, will always have substance to them. I chose to keep mine nice and thick this time, especially since I'll mostly be eating just the broth, but you may want to cut them smaller if you'd like.


Leafy greens are always a really great addition to any soup. Dark greens like kale or spinach have tons of vitamins and even calcium in them, so they are highly nutritious. Most greens will soften up significantly in soup, but kale may still end up a little rough. Make sure to remove the leaves from the stem when it gets thick at the bottom because it can often be cumbersome to chew. It might be easier to rip the leaves off with your hands than cut them.


Though I'm not a big tomato person, they add a very distinctive flavor to any soup, so much so that when I don't have them I miss them. I never like eating tomatoes in soup because of their consistency and their seeds, but I'm throwing them in anyway for the flavor. I sliced them and then halved the slices.









Now, dump everything in the pot!


You're almost done! Bring the soup to a boil; not a rolling boil. If the soup is jam packed with veggies like this one, it will be hard to achieve boiling, but as long as you see at least some bubbles, that's enough. Don't let it boil for too long, you just want everything to get up to temperature. You may either leave it on the stove to boil or put the Crock Pot back in the base and turn it on high. This is the better option because you lose less heat this way.

While the mixture is heating up, we can get to the fun part: seasoning! In cooking, unlike in baking, I almost never use measurements. Cooking, especially seasoning, is a living, interactive thing. You can't just throw X amount of this or that in there and expect it to be amazing. Maybe these tomatoes are sweeter than normal. Maybe you're just in a spicy mood tonight. Throw, dab, dash, sprinkle and experiment! Tasting is always a must but my favorite sense to use is smell. I take in the fumes of the soup and then smell each spice and decide based on scent what spices I want in. I almost always use thyme, and probably too much of it, because it's my favorite. Oregano is always a good herb to add to a basic soup and bay leaves are pretty much a soup staple. If you've never used bay leaves before, just remember that you CANNOT eat them! I've almost choked many a time from an inconspicuous bay leaf. They do not soften in soup and are hard and sharp, but they do add great flavor. Keep track of how many you put in so you are aware of them when serving and eating. I wasn't going to add rosemary because I thought it'd be a tad too sweet for this mixture, but my mom had just bought some fresh rosemary, so I felt compelled to add a bit. I added cayenne in honor of the Cleanse. It's also very good for digestion and gives it a little kick. You only need a small amount! As much as I try to stay away from salt (I had enough salt in my childhood to turn the Great Lakes into oceans) broth without salt is bland. I add just a little, always to taste. Salt is something that's not imperative to the cooking process and can always be added by the eater afterwards. A few grinds of pepper add a nice spice, as well.


By this point, the soup should be at least at a slight boil. If not, cover it for a few minutes and check again. If you cover it for a few minutes, you'll notice the physical difference from when you first had everything in the pot. At first, it seems that you've overloaded it, but once the veggies, especially the kale, start to cook, they shrink and soften. Turn the Crock Pot down to low and you're done! Let it sit overnight or while you're at work and when you come home. If you're worried about it being on for too long, set the timer for 6-8 hours. If you're not cooking with a Crock Pot, or you leave it on high, let the soup simmer for 1-2 hours. The longer you leave it in, the richer the broth will get AND the less flavor the vegetables themselves will have. If it sits long enough, the flavor and the nutrients will seep completely into the soup, giving you a deep, dark broth. Some of the veggies may lose their taste, but some, like the carrots, will still have some flavor. To keep the vegetables flavorful, Try leaving it in the Crock Pot for 5-6 hours and tasting it after that.

This basic soup recipe is highly useful to anyone and everyone. You can basically take whatever you already have in the house, dump it in a pot, and make a whole meal. Get creative with what you add! I always like to dump in a can of beans: red or white work out nicely. Eggplant also adds an interesting element. If you're adding eggplant, be sure to cook it in the oil first. Potatoes should be added after all the other vegetables so they don't get soggy. If you're adding rice or noodles, add them after it's all done (after the 8 hours) or else they'll swell up and turn to mush. Throw in some fresh corn! Change up the spices to add a different flair. The possibilities are endless!!

I hope you enjoy Garbage Soup. Like I said, there are so many different ways to make it. Part of the fun is the creativity, though. I'll try and post some variations as they happen and I'd love to hear your variations, too!