Sunday Soup

We have much to be grateful for this Sunday before Thanksgiving. It has been raining, pouring actually, for three days now. There is so much rain it has begun to drip down through the light fixtures in the living room ceiling. But we caught it in time, and for that we are grateful.

We are grateful, too, for the rain because we live in a “coastal desert” climate where rain is unusual and welcome, especially in this fire season when every drop of rain counts!

Rain keeps us indoors where we light a fire, play board games, tell stories and laugh ourselves a bit silly. So we are grateful, too, for an old-fashioned family Sunday, and a very good reason to make Soup!

For lunch today, my husband made us a delicious vegetable soup with lots of ginger. We added last night’s whole wheat Rotini pasta and fresh parmesan cheese and ate it with a chunk of fresh-baked sage bread. As he was spooning his last few bites, my husband said,  “Soup should be a requirement on a rainy day. It is so warming. It just feels essential.” Morgan and I purred our agreement.

To make this simple, quick and essential soup ~

Sauté one small chopped onion, two cloves of garlic and three slices of ginger in enough safflower oil to cover the bottom of a soup pot until the onions are golden and soft. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, two diced potatoes, two sliced carrots, one chopped celery, and any other vegetables you have on hand and would like to add. We added french beans and broccoli. Stir on medium heat to coat the vegetables thoroughly in the oil mixture.

Add four cups of water and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes. Serve warm with fresh, warm rosemary or sage bread.