Instant Vegetable Soup My Way

[not2late]

I adapted this recipe from Jacques Pepin's Instant Vegetable Soup recipe in his book Fast Food My Way. He uses plain water for his soup base. I tried it and it is good. But I found that 1 slice of bacon per cup water gives the soup a fuller, more flavorful taste. I left my bacon whole. When it was parboiled and released its bacon flavor to the soup, I removed it and crisped by cooking it in the microwave or skillet. The crispy bacon can be used as a garnish for the soup or use it for something else. Substitute chicken broth if you would prefer that to bacon. By the way, turkey bacon can be used or you can use ham.

He also grates the vegetables to allow for fast cooking. I shredded my veggies with good results and a bit more texture.

The recipe is suitable for Induction, OWL, Pre-Maintenance and Maintenance, depending on the vegetables you use.

Instant Vegetable Soup My Way
makes 4 cups

4 cups water
4 slices bacon
4 cups shredded vegetables of your choice
1 cup finely sliced lettuce or spinach
shredded cheese (optional garnish)

Put the bacon and water into a pot and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 2-3 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer. In the meantime, shred your vegetables. Bring the bacon water back to a boil and add the veggies. Simmer until the vegetables are soft. Remove the bacon slices. Add the lettuce or spinach and simmer. Serve hot.

In a skillet or in the microwave, cook the bacon until crispy. Break into pieces and serve with the soup. Garnish with the shredded cheese.

For a cream of vegetable soup, puree the soup in batches. You may need to thin the mixture with water. Serve with the bacon and cheese garnish.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Sounds good Megs. I'll have to file it away for cooler weather though! Its already hitting the 90's here during the day!

[not2late]

Tell me about it!

I made the soup because I had alot of vegetable scraps from the Memorial Day weekend (3 picnic-barbecues in 3 days!) I ended up freezing alot so I'll see how well they hold up. The zucchini-summer squash instant soup, however, was good chilled. I pureed that and had it yesterday for lunch.

[MotherOfGizmo]

That was a good use of leftovers Megs!

[kkat55]

It has been chilly and rainy all day here and soup sure does sound good!