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The Power of Soup
By Krystal Easthouse, Mak-8, Vinica
Soups are an excellent remedy to the
ailments that winter brings in Macedonia
i.e. freezing temperatures, a limited
vegetable selection, a little extra padding
around the belly or booty, and the flu.
The following are a few recipes I have
adapted in the last year that are easy,
tasty, and healthy and they use seasonal
vegetables and spices you can find at the
local market. All the recipes can be
made with or without animal products.
A note about taste: I like my soups with
a lot of flavor, so you may have to cut
back if you find that the spices are overpowering. Enjoy!
Curried Lentil and Spinach Soup
Servings: 2
1/3 cup lentils
3 cups water
1 large onion
2 carrots
1large tomato
10 mushrooms
1 cup packed fresh spinach
1 bay leaf
1 tbls curry
½ tbls ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbls salt
5-6 cloves garlic
½ cup milk
1 tsp butter
Serve with toasted bread.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Servings: 4
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
6 cloves of garlic
½ tsp thyme leaves
½ tsp red pepper
½ cup chopped parsley or 1
Tbsp dry parsley
3 medium carrots
½ cup macaroni
1 small zucchini, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
3 cups of cooked chicken
Salt to taste
Sauté onion in olive oil until it is
soft. Add water, bouillon cubes,
garlic, thyme, pepper, and parsley.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce hea t, cover, and simmer for 15
minutes.
Stir in carrots, tomato, zucchini, and
macaroni; simmer uncovered for
about ten minutes or until macaroni
and carrots are tender.
Add chicken and heat until steaming. Add salt to taste.
Serve with toasted bread.
Dice the onion, carrots, and tomato. Put
in a medium-sized pot with the lentils,
water, and a bay leaf, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for
30 minutes.
Add curry, ginger, cumin, crushed red
pepper, and salt and continue to simmer
for another 15 minutes.
Dice the garlic and mushrooms, break
the spinach into bite-size pieces, and add
to the soup with the milk and butter.
Simmer for another 15 minutes.
*A note on chicken: there are a variety of ways to cook the chicken
prior to putting it into the soup
(bake, steam, fry). My preference is
to cook the chicken in the soup pot
for 5 minutes over medium heat
before adding the onion and then I
prepare the soup in the same way as
described above but with the
chicken already in the stock.
Squash Soup
Servings: 6-8
1 large squash (2 kg)
4 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
6 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 Tbsp brown sugar (or
honey)
2 Tbsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne or to taste
Salt to taste
½ cup of milk
Peel and slice the squash being
sure to remove the seeds. Combine all of the ingredients in a
large pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for
about 30 minutes or until the
squash is tender.
Remove the soup from the heat
and puree the squash. This is
done most effectively with a
hand-held mixer, but it can also
be done with a potato masher.
Return to heat, add milk, and
cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve with toasted bread and a
simple spinach salad.