soup

It has been a week full of soup!

Poor Bradley came home from work with a head cold on Tuesday night. Commence operation soup week.

On Tuesday night, I doctored up a can of condensed chicken noodle soup - that meant boiling chopped carrots, onions and garlic, adding chunks of cooked basil pesto chicken, and tossing in some broccoli with the contents of the can. I even made some fresh bread in the bread maker. Poor hubby was impressed, but wasn't even able to finish one bowl. That's when I knew he was really really sick!

Wednesday, he felt even worse, but still went in to work. His coworkers were quick to tell him that he better take his plague-infected self out of the game before anyone else at work caught what he had, so he was home by mid-morning. I was happy to have him home so he could rest - he spent the rest of the day in hour-long naps and snuggling under blankets on the couch before sleeping 12+ hours at night. Lunch was a portion of a can of turkey noodle soup, with fresh bread and just-made banana muffins. But dinner? That was a from-scratch masterpiece soup that I'd like to repeat! Well, I may make some changes. But this was a pretty great start.

My mouth is already watering. Here's what I did:

Vegetable Beef Soup

2 T. butter
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. carrot, finely chopped (about 2 large carrots)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 beef bouillon cube
4 c. water
2 c. white or russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 3-4 medium)
2 c. chopped broccoli
1 c. (or more) chopped, cooked roast beef
rosemary
basil
salt
pepper
shredded cheddar or mozzarella, for garnish

Melt the butter over low heat, and then add the onion and carrot. Raise heat to medium, and cook until the veggies are almost tender. Add garlic and cook another two minutes or so.

Add the water and bouillon cube, and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Test for tenderness.Then, add the chopped broccoli and cook until almost tender. Add the beef and heat through.

Season with spices to your taste and top with shredded cheese. Enjoy!

P. S. Hubby took another sick day on Thursday to continue his recovery, and now he's feeling so much better! Thankful.