VEGETABLE SOUP

Nothing beats a really good homemade soup. It warms you up filling you with love and brings comfort to your soul, or at least it does mine.

Served with a salad, crusty bread or toasted sandwiches, we often have soup suppers here and with company and nobody goes away hungry and we even had a “soup supper” once for Christmas Eve where we sampled several types of soup along with warm bread and salad

Years ago I knew one recipe for soup and that was the standard vegetable soup that almost all Southern cooks learn to cook at a young age. Beef stock, meat if you have it and whatever vegetables you have on hand; corn, cabbage, lima beans, green beans, potatoes and carrots combined with stewed tomatoes and cooked till done then served with cornbread or crackers and you’ve got a meal.


The Spanish Bean Soup is similar to one that my grandfather, Gigi used to bring home from the Columbia Restaurant in Tampa Florida. I fell in love with it and basically forgot about it until a trip to St. Augustine with Frank. I bought a cookbook and gradually adapted the recipe to my own taste. It has become a family favorite served with a warm crusty loaf of bread and a salad it makes a wonderful meal.


Another new favorite is the Roasted Red Pepper Soup. In Dothan AL there is a little bistro called the River Nile. This is where Andrew took Julie for their first date and the place where they were later married. They make a wonderful Roasted Red Pepper Soup, and I tried my best to duplicate it as not only is it a favorite of Julie’s but I loved it as well. I believe that this recipe comes as close to the original as you can get.


Served with a salad, crusty bread or toasted sandwiches, we often have soup suppers here and with company and nobody goes away hungry and we even had a “soup supper” once for Christmas Eve where we sampled several types of soup along with warm bread and salad.



VEGETABLE SOUP

1 Carton Beef Stock
1 cups water
1 ear of corn - remove kernels
5 Roma tomato's
6 small (2 inches or smaller) white, red or yellow potato's quartered
1 small zucchini sliced
1 small onion diced
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1 can of green beans
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Bring water, stock, corn, tomato's, onion, carrots, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to boil, cook 8 minutes then add the potato's and cook for another 8 minutes, add zucchini and cook until veggies are fork tender.
salt and pepper to taste