Chicken Soup Fake-Out

Many people in my office has been sick over the last few weeks, and after waking up and feeling icky yesterday I decided to play it safe and take the day off (I'm thinking now it's allergies but jury is still out).

While I'm a bit skeptical that chicken soup is the cure-all it purports to be, I decided that it couldn't hurt to make pot of soup and use up some veggies I had in the fridge.

I prefer to make parve soups so I can eat them with either gender foods (to learn more about the laws of keeping kosher, click here), so I made a fake chicken soup, a recipe inspired by my sister (who is one kick-ass cook, not that I'm biased or anything). Caramelizing the onions to a deep brown and simmering the soup for a really long time infuses so much flavor, you'll think a chicken used to live in it.

Faux Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, cracked and peeled
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery heart, chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in stock pot over medium flame and saute onions until soft and translucent, 5-6 minutes. Add garlic cloves and continue to cook until onions are a deep brown, 10-12 minutes. Stir often to keep from burning.
   
2. Add carrots and celery and cook 10-12 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add stock, water and spices (salt and pepper to taste depending on how much sodium is in your soup stock).
4. Bring to a boil then simmer over low heat for at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours.
5. Serve as is, or cool and blend smooth with a stick blender.

Fun variations:

• Throw in a can of small white beans for protein.
• Add fresh herbs like dill or parsley.
• Add other veggies like peas, baby potatoes or a parsnip.

The cost:
onions: .55
garlic: .15
carrots: .35
celery: .98
stock: .98

Grand total: $3.01; serves 4-6