Vegetable Soup, a Meal in a Bowl

A Bowl of Soupy Goodness

As the days shorten and the evenings grow nippy, there’s nothing like a soothing bowl of homemade soup to warm the soul. (The Irish say the soul resides in the belly—and I’m okay with that.)

When it gets time for a sweater, it’s time for soup. My favorite are vegetable, pea, lentil, minestrone, potato-leek, butternut squash, Vietnamese pho, and, of course, chili.

Recently I had the urge to cook a pot of vegetable soup. I had all the ingredients except the most important one: the soup bone. So when Russ brought me a nice meaty bone from Soulard Market, I was in business.

A Meal in a Bowl

My old recipe has 10, or more, fresh vegetables: tomatoes, onions, celery, potatoes, carrots, turnip, peas, green beans, cabbage, corn, butter beans (I was out of those, so I subbed garbanzo beans.) Some times I throw in a handful of spinach, too.

The hardest part of making this soup—besides all the chopping—is waiting 3 hours for the bone broth to cook.

Then there’s another hour, or so, of cooking broth and vegetables together. It’s a half-day commitment. But what better way do I have of entertaining myself during this Corona-rama.

So I sing and swing as I chop. I inhale deeply as the aroma fills the kitchen. When I taste the soup and it’s just right, I do a Snoopy-style happy dance.