Soup is one of my favorite I-don’t-know-what-to-make-for-dinner makes. I use a general formula to make most of my soups (and I will admit that I am a semi-intuitive cook, and for soup especially, I don’t really use measuring cups or spoons. This is a formula, an outline, more than anything).
You can make this soup into any theme/flavor profile you’d like. If I want something a bit more thai-inspired, I’ll use coconut oil, ginger, turmeric, and add coconut milk. Sometimes, I’ll even add some red curry paste, and serve over rice noodles.
You can add meat if you’d like, I don’t eat meat so I don’t include in my recipes. Any protein air-fried would be great to add (or even oven- or pan-fried/roasted).
Be careful with the salt! Better Than Bouillon is fairly salty, so I generally don’t add any extra salt when using it.
And without any further ado, here is my go-to soup-base that I change up every time!
- heat oil (olive, avocado, coconut are the three I use the most)
- add chopped onion, celery, carrot
- cook for a few minutes
- add garlic (and ginger if it’ll be that kind of soup)
- cook until veggies and garlic are browned
- add spices (basil, oregano, turmeric, etc)
- add better than bouillon and water
- add any rice, grains, other veggies (potato, a can of tomatoes, etc, and dry lentils if using)
- cook until boiling, then turn to a simmer
- simmer for a while (depends on what grain you added; if brown rice, could be a bit longer than if barley or white rice)
- add any canned beans, canned lentils, veggies that you don’t want to cook too much like spinach
- add coconut milk if using
- cook until all flavors are melded, everything is warmed through
- top with air-fried sriracha chickpeas, other sauces if you’d like
- serve with bread, pierogies, sandwiches, salad, etc