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OK, after having missed a day I’m back with some more soup. This time, it’s Pookie Soup (so called for reasons I don’t care to disclose).

This soup isn’t very original or complicated, and I’m sure you could figure out how to make it on your own, but it’s special to me because it’s the staple soup of my household. Whenever there’s nothing around to eat, I always have the stuff on hand to make it. It’s a very free-form soup, but here’s the recipe.

• olive oil
• 1/2 medium-sized onion (I always use yellow onions sliced into half-moons)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• any combination of the following spices to taste: oregano, thyme, marjoram, or rosemary (I usually just use two at a time)
• two cups heated cooking liquid (I usually do a cup of salted and a cup of unsalted stock, but you could do all salted or all unsalted, or you could just use water)
• 1 28-oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes in juice, chunked with the juice reserved
• some starchy, grain-y, or legume-y type thing, whatever you have around. I use
  • 1 15-oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or
  • 1 15-oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed, or
  • 1/2 cup long-grain rice (I prefer brown basmati), or
  • 1/2 cup couscous, or
  • 1 medium potato, cut into quarter-inch dice

  I like using these things over something, like say, kidney beans, which might overpower the other flavors.

How you make the soup ultimately depends on which starchy grain-y or legume-y type thing you’re using.

1. Heat however much olive oil you think you’re going to need in the bottom of a medium-sized pot.
2. If you’re using a potato, you’re going to have to fry/sautée it in the oil at medium heat for a long time before beginning the rest of the soup, probably 15-20 minutes or more, until the potatoes are tender. Then go on to step three. The advantage here is that you can chop and prepare everything else before hand.
3. If you’re not using the potato, sautée the onions until they’re soft, maybe 7-10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and the spices and sautée for a couple more minutes.
5. Add the heated cooking liquid and the juice from the can of tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down until it’s just simmering.
6. Add the chickpeas, beans, couscous, or rice. If you’re using the chickpeas or beans, just cook until they’re heated through, which should just take a couple of minutes. If you’re using couscous or rice, add another cup of water and then simmer. The couscous will only take 8-10 minutes to cook, while you’ll need to simmer the rice for 30 minutes or longer.
7. If using potato, add the tomatoes when the soup is simmering. If using chickpeas or beans, add the tomatoes with them. If using couscous or rice, add the tomatoes a few minutes before they’re done.
8. Serve hot. This makes about 5-6 bowls and tastes better the next day (what soup doesn’t?) If you used couscous, add another cup of water before storing. It really soaks up the liquid and no matter what you’ll probably have a gelatinous mass of couscous stew on your hands the next day. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

x-posted

Last 5 posts by AemeliaClare

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