Holiday Leftovers?

Happy New Year, Hungry Fans!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, capped off by a fun evening last night.

All too often after the holidays, we are left with tons of leftovers from having friends and family over to visit. You open the fridge and stare at the food, waiting for inspiration, but are left more often with a feeling of ambivalence towards eating the same food…again.

I say, throw it in a soup! I love leftovers soup. It’s kind of a warm bowl of “Holiday Best-ofs” but with a twist. And since 2014 is making its entrance with subfreezing temperatures and snow across large portions of the US, soup is just the ticket.

Leftovers Soup

This recipe is an easy one to make with whatever left-over vegetables, legumes, and proteins you may have. Cook it slowly, let the flavors develop, and you have a great, easy dish that both healthy and hearty.

Ingredients

1–2 lbs of leftover lamb or fish
Several leaves of kale or other greens, roughly chopped 1 head of garlic, minced
Several heirloom tomatoes, roughly cut (so as to cook more easily)
Any other vegetables you have lying around (i.e. carrots, celery, parsnips, etc.), diced
1 32oz carton of organic veggie broth
1 can of tomato sugo (or sauce)
1–2 cans of organic cannellini or fava beans
1 small onion, diced
Several cloves of garlic (to taste)
Several sprigs of basil, roughly but thinly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper

Preparation

*This is one of those throw it all in there soups! There are a few specific things to be done, but otherwise, the soup pretty much cooks itself.*

In a skillet over medium/medium-high heat, add a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Once its warmed, add in the meat or fish, onions, and garlic and sauté until the meat is rare-medium rare or the fish is just barely cooked (it will continue to cook in the soup).

In a big soup pot, combine the meat/fish, onions, and garlic with the remainder of the ingredients over a simmer. Add a few dashes of black pepper.

Cover with a lid and let cook slowly for several hours. (You can also cook overnight over a light simmer).

Serve.