Restorative Spring Soup

I call this a restorative meal because of the nutrients in the broth and mushrooms; but primarily because it requires so little of my time and effort — and it uses up the leftovers! The formula is simple; simply pull out the leftover meat and veggies you have already your fridge, Always start with your base of olive oil and onions, and combine them with some nutritious dehydrated mushrooms for an extra punch of flavor and nutrients. (Keep those mushrooms in your pantry for nights like these.)

With the week we’ve had, soup is a great meal to help my spirit slow down, and keep it in-sync with our schedule. The schedule is slowing down, but has yet come to its peaceful grinding halt that I expect will happen on June 10, when school is officially over.  Each day of mini-mall resulted in a sell-out, requiring us to make more puppy chow and flubber hands each night. How much?  Nine boxes of rice chex were magically turned to Puppy Chow each night, and two gallons of glue were turned into flubber and stuffed into gloves each night. My son’s business partner is a kid I love; so is his mom. So, I wouldn’t be quite revealing all the truth if I didn’t admit how much I did enjoy the whole production. It was a week when yoga was done at midnight. The only available slot. Without the stretching, I would be tossing and turning all night anyway.

And today, I’m spending the day at the zoo with a class of kindergartners.

Last night, mini-mall is behind us, and my fridge was full of left-overs from the rotisserie chicken I picked up for dinner at the grocery store one night this week, and cooked asparagus from another night.

Full of nutrients from the broth and mushrooms, this soup recipe has a complex, sophisticated taste. I’m realistically not even expecting the boys to eat this — so, I’ll pulled out pieces of chicken and veggies from the broth and served it to them on a plate, along with a side of lemon-scented rice.

Recipe for the soup:

• Saute onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes.
• Add fresh chopped carrots to the saute.
• While they are simmering, add chopped garlic. Simmer for 1 minute more.
• Optionally, also create a roux by adding flour and milk to make this a creamy soup. (Or do that the second night with any leftover soup from tonight.)
• Add broth.
• Tear chicken off the bone, and add to the pot. (Use whatever protein source you have leftover in your fridge.)
• Throw a palm full of dehydrated mushrooms. (Unfortunately, there were no fresh ones.)
• Chop aspragus and throw into pot. (Use whatever leftover veggies you have sitting in your fridge.)
• Add a block of nastrituim pesto from your freezer to the pot. (Or skip it, or any store-bought pesto.)
• Add salt and pepper to taste, and let pot simmer for 20 minutes.
• Cook a pan full of rice, and season with freshly squeezed lemon and salt. (This is for the boys to eat plain, on the side.)
• Serve.

I added the rice to the bowl, and ladled the soup on top.