Do you remember the story of Stone Soup? There are several versions of this story. The one I remember is based on an old French folktale. In the story three hungry soldiers happen upon a little French village. The villagers who have little to spare hide there food from the soldiers. The soldiers being resourceful tell the villagers that they can make wonderful soup from a stone….but, of course, one must add a carrot or two…some meat…so it went.

This story came into my mind the other day when I was making my weekly batch of soup. I delighted in the story as a child. I like the idea of creative problem solving with a happy ending : ) Basically my weekly soup is similar, I add what ever is on hand. I like to take pictures of it so I can remember what I put together. And because I think the colors combinations are pretty. If I am using onions and garlic I saute them first before adding the stock.

Each week I get my farm share from the local co-op, Seed2Plate a partner Co-op of Center City co-op here in Houston. Every thing the co-op offers is organic but I choose the Gundermann Farm grande share, because I want to eat food that is both organic and locally grown. The challenge is what to do with all the fresh veggies! After a few months of steamed and sauteed veggies, I realized I should try and make soup.  I think it was also prompted by the really leafy celery that was coming in the share for a while. I didn’t want to waste all the leaves. Before I get into that here is a great recipe for sauteed kale.

A few weeks ago we had LOTS of turnips in our weekly share. I thought perhaps I might try using a recipe for a change. I trolled the internet for a good turnip soup recipe and found Turnip Soup with Rosemary and Black Pepper on The Splendid Table. It was delicious. I had never heard of Carolina rice grits before but it makes this soup nice and creamy.

I like to add herbs and onions from my own garden. I have basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, dill and mint. For the stock I start with organic chicken broth. I haven’t done it for a while but you can start with a whole chicken and make your own broth. Occasionally I just used filtered water. Some times I add Quinoa, a plant grown for its seeds, which are high in protein and gluten free.  The soups are good poured over a bowl of rice for a heartier meal.

Here is our rosemary with an onion flower photo bombing my shot.

We enjoy the soup just as it is after the veggies become tender. That usually take and hour. I also like to let it cool and put in into the blender to puree. This makes a nice creamy blend of all the flavors. The prettiest one was the beet soup. With each batch I take some to freeze.

This weekends I made soup with carrots, beets, fennel (used the whole plant). It was quite sweet and very tasty! The soups are always filling but light enough to make a good lunch. Shawn comes home for lunch as much as possible and having a bowl of soup is perfect.

I hope this inspires you to make some soup! If you have young children I definitely think you should have them help you and start with a stone : )