{"id":824,"date":"2013-04-14T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=824"},"modified":"2013-04-13T21:43:06","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T01:43:06","slug":"too-tired-to-cook-make-it-a-leftover-soup-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=824","title":{"rendered":"Too Tired to Cook, Make it a Leftover Soup Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Whether we want to or not, we can’t help our bellies\u00a0from needing to get\u00a0their fill come dinner time.\u00a0 Some\u00a0nights we\u00a0may find ourselves\u00a0so tired that we wish we didn’t have to attend to this need, hoping to opt out and\u00a0just head to bed.\u00a0 But our bellies will remind us in the wee hours of the night should we take this path, so its best to satisfy yourself with a little something before you hit the pillow.<\/p>\n

When you just cant muster up the energy to really\u00a0cook a full meal\u00a0for yourself, a wonderful way to make a satisfying meal is with a soup made from left overs.<\/p>\n

I eat soup\u00a0regularly.\u00a0 I find it satisfying for my belly which can at times be craving a little rest from processing all the food I consume.\u00a0 Its a nice way to fill you up and not feel\u00a0heavy with a big meal.\u00a0 Its also\u00a0super simple\u00a0to put together.<\/p>\n

Each week I find leftovers in my\u00a0fridge, be it a\u00a0few\u00a0vegetables that didn’t make the stir, or some grains and beans.\u00a0\u00a0This usually comes on Friday nights, when I have already spent the week cooking and am ready for a break.\u00a0 When I am, I take all the leftovers\u00a0to create a\u00a0soup.<\/p>\n

For my soup base I\u00a0often use a combination of a \u00a0low-sodium vegetable broth\u00a0and the\u00a0water from vegetables that I have boiled.\u00a0 The water left over from vegetables\u00a0such as broccoli-rabe\u00a0and kale are full of vitamins and minerals\u00a0and can be\u00a0stored in your fridge for weeks or in the freezer.\u00a0 When storing it in the freezer, you may want to use an ice tray, that way you can\u00a0pop out a few as you need them, they are great to add to any cooking you do.<\/p>\n

For the soup itself, aside from leftovers, I\u00a0always keep good frozen vegetables on hand that\u00a0add good flavor and bulk when I want\u00a0a thicker soup.\u00a0 Some of my favorites are mushrooms, red and yellow peppers and mixed vegetable medleys like carrot, broccoli and cauliflower.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0a few\u00a0easy steps you can have dinner.\u00a0 To a\u00a0pot on medium heat\u00a0add a nice bunch of sauteed\u00a0onion and garlic (you can buy the pre-cut).\u00a0 Once\u00a0translucent add frozen vegetables with a little sea salt.\u00a0\u00a0 You might also want to cut a few kombu strips of seaweed to the pot as it will create nice flavor and give your vegetables some added mineral content. \u00a0Cover the pot and let the vegetables start to wilt.<\/p>\n

Once\u00a0they have,\u00a0give them a good stir, add in some water to cover and any chopped up left overs you might have on hand.\u00a0\u00a0Let the pot sit and do its\u00a0thing, the flavors will have a chance to come together.\u00a0\u00a0 Once the smell hits the room and you are called back to the pot, stir and taste.\u00a0 Add fresh herbs to your desire.\u00a0 A few favorites of mine are dill, parsley, cilantro, chives and thyme.<\/p>\n

The flavors of your soup can really come together when served blended.\u00a0 If you have a few extra leftover\u00a0greens, throw them on top before you serve.\u00a0 \u00a0A nice side of heated up quinoa or millet can make it a really hearty meal.<\/p>\n

So when time and tiredness have you wanting to just take a break from the kitchen, grab a hold of those leftovers, a nice size pot and a few herbs and you got yourself a soup to enjoy and\u00a0get you to bed satisfied.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether we want to or not, we can’t help our bellies\u00a0from needing to get\u00a0their fill come dinner time.\u00a0 Some\u00a0nights we\u00a0may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}