Do you remember that children’s tale of The Stone Soup?
A tired and hungry old man arrives in town and removes a special stone from his satchel and then starts reminiscing about stone soup with onions … and salt beef … and cabbage … and mushrooms … and the list goes on and on. By the end, he “magically” (with the help of the entire town) creates a most delicious and nourishing soup.
It’s a beautiful story. And a great lesson about the benefits of working together and a wonderful example about how everyone has something to contribute.
Last week, we were prepping to leave for a two to three week road trip to visit my husband while he’s working in Canada. We had more than a few veggies left in the fridge I knew would go bad if we just left them there. So, with two helpful sets of little hands, we set out to make our own Stone Soup.
It was so good we ate it for dinner, and then dinner the next night, and then (at their request) the kids ate it for breakfast before we left for skiing on Thursday!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 Tbls sesame or sunflower oil
- 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 stalks celery (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1/4 c. leftover tomato sauce
- 7 c. broth (bone or vegetable or water)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3 small-medium carrots (chopped)
- 1 medium sweet potato (chopped)
- 1 – 2 stalks of bok choy (chopped)
- 1 1/2 c. cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 c. green beans (cut in thirds)
- 2 c. leftover cooked brown rice or quinoa
- Sea salt & pepper (to taste)
- no stone required
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil in a dutch oven and sauté chopped onion until translucent. Ad celery and garlic. Then add tomato sauce, rosemary and thyme and broth or water. Bring to a boil then lower temperature to simmer and add carrots, sweet potato, bok choy, tomatoes, green beans. Add salt and a dash of pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, add leftover rice.
This is sure to warm you on these cold winter nights (or mornings).
NOTE: A traditional stone soup might also have a salted beef or leftover meat of your choice.