This simple recipe reminds me why I like Around My French Table so much. There are complicated recipes (with clear, reliable instructions) that appeal to seasoned cooks, but there are also basic recipes that would be invaluable to the novice cook, too. When you’re starting out, it’s important to have a guide for proportions, even for something as simple as a stone soup like this one. When the rest of my nieces and nephews move out of their parents’ houses, I’ll be giving them each a copy of this cookbook, in the youth household survival kits that I’ll put together for them.
But, back to my version of this week’s recipe. You may have noticed that it doesn’t look much like vegetable soup. I think it’s still in the spirit of the recipe, though, since this recipe is meant for what’s available in the kitchen.
I started with turkey stock, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. But there was also a bag of leftover turkey saved from Thanksgiving weekend, along with a bag of leftover peas and sliced carrots. Better use those, too. Then, there was bacon for breakfast, so why not fry a few extra slices for the soup? Cooking down the onion in the bacon fat seemed like the next logical step. There wasn’t quite enough liquid, so in goes some chicken stock, too. Salt and pepper, of course, but a little smoked paprika in with the rosemary and thyme could tie all the flavours together nicely and some brown rice would make it a complete meal. Adding in the crisp bits of bacon right at the end just makes things perfect.
That’s the essence of soup-making for me. If you ask my mother what her recipe for soup is, she can’t tell you. It often has tomatoes in it, almost always rosemary and thyme, usually some noodles, rice, or barley in the mix, but everything else just depends. It’s always good. As was this soup. It had travelled a long way from the original recipe, but it was delicious and I didn’t have to go out to buy a single ingredient.
You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Spur-of-the-Moment Vegetable Soup
One Wet Foot 
I absolutely agree with you Teresa. I’ve made many delicious soups with that philosophy in mind. Of course, it’s been hard to repeat them! 😉
It sounds and looks delicious! I especially like your first photograph – lovely colours.
“No shopping” soup is the best, and definitely in the spirit of the original. I’ll keep your spin on this in mind when i have leftovers from US Thanksgiving next month.
Looks good to me, and very delicious. Just think of all the leftovers that were used up.
Great job.
Bacon is never a bad idea 🙂
I think this recipe was more about the “spirit of the law” than the letter.
Nice!
I know what your mother means about not being able to replicate recipes. But that’s probably what makes her a great cook, trusting those instincts.
What a great way to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers.
I love the idea of a household survival kit for your nieces and nephews. Lucky them. What this week’s recipe did was to motivate me to improvise, not only with soup but with various dishes that I usually just do same-old, same-old with. I like that you really added everything you could get your hands on in this soup. Nice. Tasty also.
we didnt have to go shopping before making this one either 🙂 the best kind of soup!
Teresa, what a wonderful bowl of Vegetable Soup – preparing comfort-style kinds of soups like this is just the best!