Souper leftovers

This week we stayed home. I already explained how much I hate traveling. You are always uncomfortable. You don't get enough sleep. The food is unpredictable (Which can be a good thing but usually isn't). The bathrooms are filthy. And, if that's not enough, you can't get a decent cup of coffee. One winter break we traveled to Kansas to visit my sister (who was living there for a year). We traveled by car (very interesting experience with two young kids). We stopped for the night in a roadside motel and in the morning I could not get a decent cup of coffee. Now, I am an unreasonable person, everyone knows that. G-d forbid I will ever be happy about anything (If I can't complain, what is there to get up in the morning for?). But not being able to get a cup of coffee with non flavored cream will cause anyone to complain. I ended up buying a quart(!!!) of milk, pouring a bit in my coffee and throwing out the rest. Now, mind you, the store did sell coffee. And they had plenty of sugar and syrupy creamers. But no milk for your coffee. I call that un-American.



I hate throwing food out. Pouring that almost full quart of milk into a ditch by the road broke my heart. I totally subscribe to the "There are starving children in Africa" philosophy. How can anyone justify throwing away perfectly good food when so many people in this world go without?


In this spirit, I approached my refrigerator. You know how you go to the market and see that awesome produce? On sale? Or some really exotic cheese? Or you get carried away and buy more than you realistically can eat in one week (before it goes bad)? Or your husband bought enough turnips for a small country? (oops, wrong post).

Anyway. There I was, day 5 of vacation time. No more latkes. The kids are over-candied. We need some wholesome food. The weather is somewhat winter-y and my fridge is filled with vegetables that looked really good in the store but not so good through my kids' eyes. 

What to do? What to do?

 Soup.
 
So I fried some onion in olive oil and a little butter. Added crushed garlic, some baby carrots that by now should more suitably be called toddler carrots, a turnip (we're still trying to get rid of these), a lonely zucchini that has survived the zucchini latkes night, some mushroom stems (we like the caps only) and the broccoli that had looked so lovely in the store. You can just dump everything in at once but a better method will be the patient one of sauteing each one in its turn (in the order they appear here) and wait until it turns slightly brownish before adding the next step. This is done over medium-low heat and in a covered pot, so as to keep the bottom from drying out and burning the vegetables (as my husband is doing to the eggplants at this very moment). Once everything is nice and soft and a little colored, add vegetable stock to cover (since, naturally, everyone have Ziploc bags of frozen, home made vegetable stock in their freezer) and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for an hour or so until all the veggies are nice and soft. Puree the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender (and if you don't have one - buy one. It is not expensive, as kitchen gadgets go and it is soooo worth it). Once the soup is all blended - add a little bit of cream (heavy, light, half and half, even whole milk). Just enough to change the color of the soup when you mix it in. Adjust the seasoning. From that moment on - you can reheat the soup (it freezes nicely, too) but do not boil it again. 
Serve with some grated cheese, if you want (we used Parmesan), and croutons. My daughter made the croutons. She cubed some leftover (more food not being thrown out!!!) challah, spiced it with Italian seasoning and more Parmesan cheese, drizzled olive oil and toasted it.

So, you say, where's the Jewish angle? Well, if kvetching about coffee and praising the power of soup (albeit not chicken soup, I know), isn't Jewish enough for you, how's this: Where do you think kugels came from? Leftovers, that's where.

Using up leftovers in a creative way may not be a Jewish thing per se, but it has a very Jewish flavor to it, doesn't it? Being appreciative of what we have. Not taking G-d's blessings for granted. Being grateful for the bounty we are blessed with. Birkat Hamazon is based on the verse "V'Akhalta, Ve'Savata, Ve'Hotarta, U'Verakhta...". The Torah acknowledges the riches of not just having plenty to eat but actually having leftovers (Ve'Hotarta means - 'and you shall leave-over'). You don't think that throwing these away will then be an acceptable practice, right? 

Be grateful every day, every hour, every minute. Even if times are hard, we are still living in a place and a time where we have so much to eat that we need to find something to do with leftovers. Every time you find a creative use for your leftovers instead of tossing them in the trash, you are acknowledging your gratitude to G-d for His bounty, for His care, for His love.


Share the bounty.