Cabbage Roll Soup

Okay, so I actually made this one today, as the new soup of the week. Last week was wild rice and clear vegetable soup. Didn’t take a picture because there really wasn’t much to look at. Or maybe I did, but it’s still on my phone. Anyway, I have to sleep soon because I work tomorrow, so I’ll make this quick.

It doesn’t look all that appetizing, but it sure tastes good! There’s something about soup on a cold winter day that makes it so much nicer.

• 1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces of tomato paste
• 1 (12 oz) can of tomatoes + juice, diced (I used home canned ones my mom had stashed away. They had whole peppercorn in them)
• 1L beef broth (can easily be substituted with vegetable broth, which I did not have)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1-1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1-1/2 garlic powder
• 1-1/2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

***please note: the spices and herbs (as well as everything else except garlic and onion) are approximations. I never measure, and it is all done to taste***

In a large pot, sauté the cabbage, garlic, and onions until soft. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to simmer. Add rice, and herbs and spices. Allow for about 30 minutes for rice to cook, or until soft.

You may have to add water as needed. I did find that while the rice was absorbing water, water also evaporated out and caused the soup to thicken a bit too much for my liking.

Enjoy!! Happy first day of December!

#noobcook

Vegetable Soup

So I found that my dad really likes to have soup. I found this out when I kept seeing those Campbell’s soup labels in the recycling. So I’d decided to take it upon myself to make a soup every week for him. The first one I made was a potato corn chowder. The second week was a clam chowder. Then I said “NO CREAM BASE NEXT WEEK,” so I came up with this. A tomato-based vegetable soup!

So this is one of those times where I get creative. I don’t often take measurements for things like this. I only measure for baking. Here we go!

• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks (?) of celery, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped
• 1x 540ml diced tomatoes
• 2c tomato sauce
• 2c water
• 1.5 c macaroni, cooked, drained
• 2 tsp chili flakes
• Salt, pepper, and Cajun spice to taste

Cook macaroni in separate pot. Drain.

Add oil to a big pot. Start with onion and let simmer until translucent. Then garlic and mushrooms. Let sit for a minute or so. Then celery and carrots. Another two minutes. Add diced tomatoes (all of it. Liquid and all). Add water and tomato sauce. Add cooked macaroni. Bring to boil. Then add spices to taste.

#noobcook #latenight #food #cookstagram

Honestly though, I don’t usually cook this late. It’s only because dad likes soup for lunch, and I didn’t get around to making it yesterday. I prefer him not eating that canned stuff anyway.

Note: I added quite a bit of spice, so it’s got a bit of a kick. Didn’t notice until I took a few spoons for myself. I asked my sister to draw three flames on a sticky note so I’ve left it up to dad to decide if he wants to add more water. Otherwise, someone might be pooping lava in the morning. >;]

Teriyaki Udon (without the Teriyaki)

So first of all, let me make this clear: this is not a teriyaki udon recipe. I didn’t have any teriyaki sauce at home, so I used other things. I do make this more often than other foods I’ve made just because it’s so easy and so delicious!

As a side note, I will not be doing in depth restaurant reviews. I’m not sure if I should be doing them at all because of my career path as a health inspector..

Anyway, on with the udon! (Haha! So clever!)

Ingredients:

• Two packages of udon noodles
• A handful of bean sprouts, washed
• One medium sized carrot, peeled and grated
• Half of a small onion, diced
• 5 white mushrooms, washed and sliced
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (instead of the teriyaki sauce!)

How-To:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and throw in the udon. Boil until it becomes the consistency that you like. Remove from heat and drain.

Heat up a pan with a bit of oil. How I tell if it is hot enough is if the oil starts to run around the pan freely when tilting the pan or by throwing in a piece of onion. If it sizzles a lot, it’s good to go. Throw in the rest of the onions and saute until starting to brown. Throw in the mushrooms. Saute until desired softness (I like mine relatively soft with little crunch to it). Set aside.

With the same hot pan, throw in the carrots and bean sprouts. The water that comes off of the bean sprouts should sizzle and jump — this is fine. You can add a few tablespoons of water and cover it for  2-3 minutes, or just stand there and toss like I did.

Throw the onions and mushrooms back in to heat them back up, then add the udon. Mix thoroughly. Add oyster sauce. Mix thoroughly.

Put into two bowls.

Eat!

Serves 2.