Pond Scum Soup

So, I needed a place to post this online and - guess what! I had this blog. Anyway, for anyone who ever wanted to know, here is Pond Scum Soup. Adapted from Danielle Koberstein.

Pond Scum Soup

*Note: The flavor comes from the items above the dotted line. Everything below can be adjusted or substituted to taste.

2 T olive oil

1 T butter

1 large onion, chopped

4 ribs celery, sliced

3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced

7-8 cloves garlic, minced

14 oz canned diced tomatoes

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1-2 cans of chicken or vegetable broth

3/4 c barley

1/3 c quinoa

1 head of any greens

Some cabbage, cut up

Some eggplant, chunks

Some yellow squash, sliced

A couple handfuls of chopped almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp onion powder

1 dash cayenne pepper

1.       Heat oil and butter in a pan. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook on low until celery and carrots are coated and have absorbed some onion flavor.

2.       Add 1/2 the garlic, cook until garlic flavor is into the vegetables a little, too.

3.       Pour everything into a crock pot; add everything else. (Add the almonds maybe 20 minutes before serving so they stay crunchy.)

NON-CROCK POT:

1.       Heat oil and butter in a large stock pot. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook on low for 15 minutes (until tender).

2.       Add the garlic and tomatoes to the pot and cook another 5 minutes.

3.       Add the rest of vegetables, grains and, if you are adding beans, those.

4.       Add greens UNLESS you are using spinach. Reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes.

5.       IF USING SPINACH: After that 40-minute simmer time, add spinach. Heat until spinach has wilted to appropriately scum-like conditions.

6.       Add almonds toward the end, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat throughout.

*Danielle adds 3/4 c dried lentils, 3/4 c dried split peas, 14-oz can of kidney beans and a 14-oz can of garbanzo beans. that is a lot of beans. I leave them out in favor of the cabbage, eggplant, and squash, and sometimes fresh green beans. If you include the beans AND these vegetables, you might want to increase the liquid and spices in the soup - a fair amount of liquid is important for the grains and greens. Use more if you want it more soupy and less like a stew.

*The most important thing in this recipe is to simmer it/leave it in the crock pot. I made this once in a rush and it wasn't that good. The whole flavor depends on the garlic, onions, and spices being able to sink into the vegetables and tougher-than-spinach greens.