last soup of the season? and cheddar biscuits.

Good gracious. Let's hope I never have to complain about my computer here again. ANYWAY, last night, my husband and I tossed together what might be our last soup of the chilly season. The sun is peeking out more and more frequently, and we'll probably be trading our hearty bowls of soup for light salads as the weather gets hot.



This simple vegetable soup follows pretty much the same formula as all of our other soups- broth, mirepoix, and a handful of extra veggies and spices. My husband was in the mood for something more like a minestrone, so we tossed in a can of tomatoes and shaved some parmesan on top to finish. We served it with a big plate of cheddar onion biscuits, and stuffed ourselves on broth-soaked bread product. It was great!



Springtime Vegetable Soup:

6 cups of vegetable broth (I made mine the same afternoon- in a big pot with carrot, onion, shallot, celery, garlic, and bay leaf- I simmered about 8 or 9 cups of water for about 2 hours. Strained, cooled, and refrigerated it to be used at dinner. )
chopped vegetables- carrot, celery, onion, garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper
1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
can of kidney beans
bay leaf
butter
white wine
a tiny pinch of rosemary
lemon
fresh basil, if you have it
salt & pepper
egg noodles, if you want them.
red chili flakes

In a large pot, saute onions & garlic in a little bit of butter. Cook for a few minutes, then splash in some white wine. Reduce for a moment, then add the rest of the chopped vegetables. Saute until soft, then add vegetable stock and bay leaf. Add fire roasted diced tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper (we used a pinch of steak seasoning because we didn't have any 'italian seasoning' kicking around) and a small pinch of rosemary (fresh is better, dried is fine). Simmer for an hour or so, or until vegetables are soft and the flavors melt together and get all delicious. When it's getting close to serving time, add the can of kidney beans. (If you add them too early, they can get mushy.) Add a pinch of lemon zest or just a squeeze of lemon juice for a little bit of acid, and garnish with fresh basil and shaved parmesan. Serve over a bed of egg noodles. We added chili flakes to our noodles but omitted them from the big pot because our 2 year old son doesn't dig spicy stuff very much.

This makes a giant pot of soup, but we love having leftovers for the next few days.

Now- the cheddar biscuits.



Sorry, I had to use this ridiculous picture. I was trying to be all adorable and model the biscuits, but my husband came up behind me and started doing something to me (moose antlers? bunny ears?) and I cracked up just as the shutter clicked.

Anyway, I just pulled up this recipe from my friend Alia and modified it based on the ingredients I had on hand and added cheese for deliciousness.

Altered rom the cookbook "How It All Vegan!" by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer

"Fancy Biscuits"
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil -or- shortening
1 cup sour milk (milk + 1 tsp vinegar) (hey vegans- just use soy milk.)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 tbsp dried dill (I didn't have any dill. I never have dried dill! I should get some.)
1/4 tsp pepper (I was very liberal with my pepper cracker, I wanted them to be peppery!)
A large handful of grated cheddar cheese.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Crack in some pepper, and toss the cheese and onions into the mixture until it's all evenly distributed. Add the oil and sour milk, and mix together gently until "just mixed." Spoon into lightly oiled muffin tins (Or just spoon onto a baking sheet. My husband claims that biscuits should be "rugged."). Bake for 12-18 minutes. Makes about 6 biscuits. (Or a random assortment of oddly sized biscuits, if you're me.)

Eat soup while it's still (sorta) chilly!