Egg Drop Soup p. 127

Ever since I was sick around Christmas when I was a young girl egg drop soup has been a comfort food to me. I didn't realize how easy it was to prepare until a few weeks ago.

Start with around 4 cups of stock (I used chicken stock)and bring it to a simmer. Meanwhile in a separate bowl beat 4 eggs together. When the water begins simmering add in the eggs and stir until the eggs are cooked (just a couple of minutes). Garnish with cilantro, soy sauce, etc. You will need to season with salt and pepper to taste. This makes two good size servings or four small servings.



I fell in love with how easy and delicious this soup was that I've made it several times since. My absolute favorite though was when I mixed in a cup of cooked, shredded chicken and leftover cooked leeks.



Words cannot describe to you how amazing it was. Definitely my favorite thing I'd ever made. Seriously. And it only took five minutes max.

Garlic Fideo Soup p. 141-142

Day four of meal planned week I branched out to a pasta soup. I wasn't sure what Bryan was going to think, but I liked the idea of a lighter meal in the middle of the week.

First cook chopped garlic for a few minutes. Then add in your broken noodles. (The recipe calls for fideo, which is a thin pasta, but our small grocery did not have that. The thinnest I could find was angel hair.) Add a ton of chicken stock and cook until the noodles are cooked through.



Mark Bittman suggests garnishing with bread crumbs and fresh herbs, this was my favorite part. I added an obscene amount of parsley to my bowl. Without the herbs it just too bland for me.

Shrimp Stock p. 159

After making spicy shrimp, I saved the peels to make stock. Put your shells in a pot with onion, carrot, and celery or whatever you have or not. I love it when things are optional. I had carrot and celery and that's all I used. For this stock you only add about 5 cups of water, so it doesn't make as much as say chicken stock.

Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Once cool you can refrigerate or freeze it.

Noodle Soup

Just after Christmas and at the new year, I was sick, for almost a week. Sick people need soup to get better and unfortunately, I had to make it for myself.

Ingredients for noodle soup: noodles, oil, onion, carrot, celery, stock,parsley, parmesean cheese. I also added chopped, cooked chicken to my soup.

Start off by cooking your noodles seperately. In another pot saute your onion, carrots, and celery. I skipped onions, as usual. Once they are soft, add your stock and bring to a boil. Add your noodles and chicken once the soup is warm. Serve garnished with parsley and parmesean cheese.



This noodle soup is easily amenable to many variations. I added some chopped canned tomatoes as well as sugar snap peas.

Basic Bean Soup p. 136

Happy New Year! I have many goals regarding this project for this new year, one of which is to try more things that I don't like. The first of which is beans.

I actually made this dish several weeks ago, but being the bad blogger I've been the past month or so, I'm just now getting around to it.

As far as difficulty goes, this is a very easy dish to prepare. Bryan was coming home late, so I had time to "soak" my beans the day off. Soaking involves covering the beans in water and letting it come to a simmer over the stove, then covering and turning it off. Let it "soak" for as long as you have. I had about an hour to an hour and a half before cooking.

Once you are ready to cook add the following to your pot/pan: stock, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for about an hour, until your beans are tender.

I had a bite and it was delicious, but I let Bryan eat the majority of this soup. But overall it was a hearty and delicious soup for very little effort.

Potato and Leek Soup p. 131

Ingredients: butter, potatoes, leeks, stock.

This is a super easy and super delicious soup to make. Start off by prepping the veggies. Peel the potatoes and cute into small cubes. Then prep the leeks (if you do not know how to do so, like me a few months ago, please visit page 310 which shoes how to trim and wash leeks).

To cook, melt your butter (you can use olive oil if you wish), then add the veggies. After a few minutes, when they start to soften, add stock or water if you don't have stock. Let cook until your potatoes are soft.

One variation suggests pureeing the soup in a blender or immersion blender. One of the things that I've asked for Christmas is an immersion blender. I have a list of things to make once I have it. But this time I decided to use the blender. Did you know that you can't fill a blender up too close to the top and then turn it on? I learned the hard way last night. Oh well... Bryan asked for it lightly pureed... meaning with a few chunks.

The soup was hearty and delicious. Perfect for cuddling up to your significant other or cuddly pet on the couch to watch a movie.

BONUS: I finished off the leftovers and didn't heat them up, which qualifies this as the second variation: Vichyssoise. I'm not even going to try to pronounce that. It was just as delicious cold as it was warm.

Chunky Vegetable Soup p. 123-4

I think this is one of the first soups I've ever made. I'm not sure how I haven't made one before, but this is the first. Its turning cool in our area and soup is a natural comfort for Bryan and I.

This soup is one that you can vary a million ways. Mark Bittman suggests different "hard" and "soft" veggies to use. I opted for potatoes and green beans, some of our favorite veggies. I wasn't pleased with the green bean selection at the grocery, so I decided to use canned. And that was a big mistake. The green beans tasted canned and that ruined every bite I took with them. So learn from my mistake: NO CANNED STUFF!

Other than the green beans, the soup was delicious and easy and nutritious, everything a good soup should be.



Day after update: Bryan and I both thought it was better the day after. Bryan thought the overall taste was better. And I thought the green beans had lost the canned taste.

Quickest Chicken Stock p. 157

I just love having homemade stock on hand. Its so flavorful and simple. I've officially been turned into a believer now. Gone are the days when I would pick up some stock at the grocery.

For this stock, unlike my last foray into stock making, I just used what I had on hand. The remnants of an onion, several carrots, part of a celery stick, and fresh parsley.



While I haven't actually tried it yet, the smell alone was enough to justify how amazing it is. In fact, I recommend realtors to make chicken stock to entice buyers when looking at a house.