STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Hermes

if you had a container of vegetable stock...

cahabo · Kate Spade

I love to use the crock pot. I would just throw some carrots, celery, onion, rice or pasta, a little S&P, and parsley along with your stock on low for 6 hours. Great for a cold day!

Hermes

See, I knew it would be simple like that. What about beans? Would I need to soak them first? Lentils should cook right up with the veggies, shouldn't they?

Kelly · Hermes

I love to make soup! I don't have a crockpot, so I just put a big pot on the stove and throw in whatever veggies/mushrooms/potatoes I have already or that I need to use up. I tend to cook any meat before I put it in, just because I only cook mine for like an hour (I know it's not as good that way, but I just don't have the foresight to cook something for hours on end). I also put in any noodles. Just kind of go with whatever amounts feel right to you - I don't like broth on its own so I really fill it up with everything else so I'm not left with a bunch of watery crap after I've eaten all the good stuff.

Hermes

so you can't over cook it? is there a heat setting (I've never used a crock pot before...)

jj · Kate Spade

My CP has a lw, medium and high setting. Most of the recipes I use call for low over 6-8 hours, but some are high for 2-3.

cahabo · Kate Spade

I'm no help with dry beans, since I've only used canned in the recipes I have tried.

On all the crock pots I've seen there is a low and high setting. I think it would be a little hard to overcook anything in the crock pots even on the high settings. On high I usually cook for 4 hours. I always end up stirring them occasionally just to check how things are cooking.

NCshopper · Hermes

You pretty much can't go wrong with soup. Here's what I usually do:

Chop up some onions, celery, garlic, and carrots.
Put a pot on the stove on low-medium heat. Once the pan's hot, add in a little olive oil, then add the veggies. Cook them until the onions are tranlucent.
Add the veggie stock.
Then start adding whatever else you like. Beans, lentils, rice, cans of veggies, pretty much whatever and it'll be rare that you really screw it up.
Or you can add green salsa, a can of tomatoes, a can of white beans, and some shredded rotisserie chicken, then top with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese, and you have tortilla soup.
Or you can add garbanzo beans, kidney beans, and some noodles and you have minestrone.

I love making soup. Soup and salads are the two things I'm really good at in the kitchen.

sydney · Kate Spade

D wrote:
so you can't over cook it? is there a heat setting (I've never used a crock pot before...)

Crock pots are SUPER easy. Usually two setting - low and high. I use low when I want it to cook all day and high for a couple hours (throw everything in before work and when you come home, voile!)

If you are not a vegetarian, then I also recommend getting a whole chicken and throwing it in the crock pot with veggies (carrots celery and onion at minimum for flavor) - wonderful soup with real chicken flavor. The use the chicken for another dinner too. Note: pasta can't cook quite as long as other veggies, so you may want to throw in at last hour. Beans take a long time to cook and absorb water.)

Hermes

cool - thank you all so much for the suggestions.

I am actually pescetarian, so I would be using seafood if I put any "meat" in it.

the crock pot belongs to my husband, is probably 20 years old, still in the box and has never been used, so I think it's high time to break it in!

tara t · Marc Jacobs

D wrote:

See, I knew it would be simple like that. What about beans? Would I need to soak them first? Lentils should cook right up with the veggies, shouldn't they?

i love to cook but bean soup of any kind, i can't seem to get right. i have honestly tried about 4 or 5 different recipes at least 3 times each and they all come out waaayyy to salty. i've given up. not trying to discourage, just my experience.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

tara t wrote:

D wrote:

See, I knew it would be simple like that. What about beans? Would I need to soak them first? Lentils should cook right up with the veggies, shouldn't they?

i love to cook but bean soup of any kind, i can't seem to get right. i have honestly tried about 4 or 5 different recipes at least 3 times each and they all come out waaayyy to salty. i've given up. not trying to discourage, just my experience.

There's two ways to go about making/using beans for soup: dried beans and canned beans.

Dried beans need to be soaked overnight. Different types of beans will take different amounts of time both in the soaking and in the boiling water. However, the soaking time is perfect for flavoring your beans. You can throw in some garlic salt, pepper, even jalapeno depending on what type of soup you want. (Lentils, depending on the type, and some split peas don't require as much soaking)

Canned beans don't need to be soaked overnight since they are already cooked. However, canned beans are just sky-high in terms of sodium. I rince my canned beans for at least five minutes. Even doing that, I can still taste the extra sodium in recipes with canned beans.

If you can think far enough in advance, I suggest taking a weekend and making a lot of beans. Just get all four burners going and soak some nice navy beans, black beans, and some red beans. Let all of them soak overnight and the next day just plop into some Tupperware and put into freezer.

But in answer to the first question about what do to with a container of vegetable stock...the easy answer is just throw a whole bunch of veggies in! I've found that it doesn't really matter what vegetables and in what amounts as long as the cooking times are correct. Meaning, potatoes take a long time, carrots a medium amount of time, and greens can be thrown in at the end. Soups are also great to make if you have an immersion blender or a food processer big enough to handle creaming soups.

D, you might want to check out the Moosewood Cookbook for great soup/bean recipes. It's probably one of the best vegetarian cookbooks ever and has been in print for almost 30-some years.

fairywings · Dooney & Bourke

I made a soup with veggie broth this week and I threw in carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, spinach, and lots of different spices. I also bought frozen matzo balls (I was craving them for some strange reason) and threw them in and it was so good and comforting. Healthy and yummy.

Suasoria · Chanel

I haven't read the pp's, but since you're a novice with recipe skillz, keep in mind you can use veg stock in about any soup recipe that calls for water. You'll get a richer flavor and some additional nutrition.

You can also use it instead of water in rice or grain dishes for extra flavor and complexity.

nightshade · Nine West

This is a great soup and very easy, as long as you eat dairy?. You could certainly make it in a crock pot 4 hours on Low, but you would still have to add final ingedients and blend it before serving (dirty up two pots).

Carrot Ginger Soup

2 tbsp oil
½ cup minced onion
¼ cup peeled, minced ginger
3 cups stock
4 cups peeled, sliced carrots
½ cup orange juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
½ cup half and half
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and saute about 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add stock and carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about thirty minutes. Puree with immersion blender off the heat. Mix in orange juice, half and half and fish sauce, and heat over low for another five minutes (not letting it boil). Add spices and serve. Serves 4.