Cirque du Malaise

(For those of you that aren't up on your latest DSM manual, S.A.D. stands for 'Seasonal Affective Disorder'. I have that, for sure. Most seasons.)

There is nothing as comforting as making soup on a gloomy Fall day. I think I'm the only person I've ever met whose least favorite season is Autumn. Days getting shorter and chillier, flip flop season over, and the looming threat of depressing holidays.... never quite got what there is to love about this time of year. I worship hot tea and cozy scarves as much as the next person, but living in San Francisco, they are a year-round thing.

Here's what's not depressing: walking to the farmers market, buying fresh, local, organic veggies and seasonal heirloom beans, and cooking up a big ol' vat of hot, nutritious soup.

My favorite things about soup:

1. You can eat it out of a bowl.
2. It lasts for days on the stovetop.
3. It's pretty hard to fuck up.
4. It reminds me of one of my favorite children's books, The Maggie B. (About a girl and her little brother who live on a boat and have their own garden, toucan and everything else they could possibly need. When I was growing up, I used to pretend that my trundle bed was the Maggie B. and refuse to get out of it.)

 

Today I went to the San Rafael farmers market with Bria, Joseph and Anna and got the ingredients for minestrone soup. Here's a really basic, pretty-much-made-up recipe that I want to share. You can, of course, substitute anything you want for these things.

Directions and Ingredients:

• SautĂ© fresh red onion bulbs, chopped really fine, in EVOO until they're clear.
• Add minced garlic and a jalapeno for about another 30 seconds.
• Add chopped carrots and potatoes.
• Add chopped plum tomatoes.
• Add some spices. I used salt, thyme and basil.
• A can of crushed tomatoes (or you can use whole tomatoes and crush them).
• A whole lotta stock. I used beef-flavored Better Than Bouillon dissolved in boiling water. You can also get fresh stock, make your own stock or just use regular bouillon.
• Fresh-shelled cranberry beans. These are in season (at least in California) right now and are a specialty heirloom bean. Much more nutritive value than canned beans. And you're supporting your local farmer!
• Boil it, then turn it down and let it simmer for a long time. Like, maybe an hour.
• At some point during this time, add chopped zucchini and small pieces of kale.
• At the very end, sautĂ© some beef sausage and add it to the soup.

 

My mom is a chef, so she is probably cringing reading my hack directions. Judith, feel free to chime in here and correct me!