Around our house this is called "dump soup". You would think I've made it before this winter, but despite the ridiculous easy-ness of it, I didn't make it until December! For shame!
But for those of you who, like me, thought this was too complicated because there's no recipe, I'm going to spell it out for you.
Base:
Can or jar of diced tomatoes
Beef bouillon
Water
Depending on how much of this you want will depend on the amount of tomatoes, water and bouillon. For our family of five, I typically only add one pint of tomatoes (or 10.5 oz can) and about 5 cups of water. I always add one more cube of bouillon than cups of water, so in a 5-cup recipe, I would add six cubes. In fact, I do this with ALL soups-- one extra bouillon cube. You'd be surprised what a difference that extra cube makes.
More basic ingredients:
lentils
small amount of meat (the lentils help the meat to stretch farther)
potatoes
The lentils are a great source of protein. They're cheap, healthy and have a long shelf life. Best of all, they cook up in no time! 20 minutes of lentil cooking results in soft lentils. Not like dry beans (a post for another day) which require pre-soaking or a "quick cook" method of at least 2 1/2 hours. Lentils are EASY. My family doesn't even like lentils.
Other ingredients:
green beans
corn
any type of bean, in fact
carrots
celery
peppers (haven't tried it yet!)
onions
Putting it together:
We usually have dump soup on a night that meets several criteria. 1)I have lots of little leftovers in the fridge, like two carrots and a celery stalk. Or a cup of black beans. Or 1/2 cup of meat. 2) I only have 20-30 minutes to get a full dinner ready. and 3) it's cold outside.
I cook the lentils in the beef broth with the meat. Then I add everything else and simmer until tender, which usually takes about 20 minutes. During that time I make some easy biscuits or toast some bread.
And voila! Dump soup! A way to clean out your fridge, use your food storage, eat healthy and save money.
What's not to love?
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