By Kate Vaynshteyn at www.babaganosh.org
A soup base can make or break any soup. It can be used to enhance the ingredients around it or create a whole new dimension to your dish.
When preparing a soup base, only the finest ingredients will do. Our food blogger Kate, using only a handful of simple and fresh ingredients, created a delicious and hearty soup base that can be used as the foundation for any soup recipe you can, literally, cook up!
All it takes is a little vegetable oil, garlic, broth (either chicken or vegetable – homemade is always better, of course!), lemon juice, salt and pepper and some Randall Great Northern Beans.
After you’ve made it, you can immediately use it for the soup you are making for dinner. If you want to save it or have some leftover, this soup base can easily be stored in the fridge or freezer to be used in a different meal down the road.
Ingredients
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
- 4 1/2 cups of Randall Great Northern Beans, drained with ¼ cup liquid reserved
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a soup pan, heat the vegetable oil and saute the minced garlic for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the broth, beans, reserved bean liquid, and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Use immediately to make soup, or cool the bean broth and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
Want to see for yourself just how delicious and versatile this soup base can be in your kitchen? Using the same soup base, Kate created two entirely different and unique soups, a Chicken and Vegetable Soup and a Smoked Ham and Beans Soup. Each has their own distinct components and taste but come from the same foundation. You can check out the recipes right here.
We offered up some great ideas on how to use this soup base that we hope you try for yourself and enjoy. However, the beauty of a terrific and simple soup base like this is you can use it any way you want. It is the perfect foundation for any soup using chicken, turkey, pork, beef, fish or veggies. It’s also especially handy to have around to use with your leftovers. Toss this soup base and combine with any ingredients from a leftover meal and you have a great start to a fantastic soup.
Leftovers often get a bad rap for being boring, but that is far from the case. Leftovers can be repurposed and reimagined to create entirely new and delicious recipes.
