Aunt Mary B.'s Vegetable Soup

My Aunt Mary B. was a wonderful woman, but she had her secrets. At one of her last family reunions, I asked her what the 'B.' stood for in her name; she hesitated, frowned, then bent forward and said in a gravely voice, "Bell. Now would you rather people call you 'Mary B.' or 'Mary Bell?'" I smiled (thinking neither one), but agreed that 'Mary B.' was preferable. My mom got her secret recipe when we visited her in Louisville, KY, and she has been making it for me since I was about two years old. There is usually a pot of it in her refrigerator; I call it, variously, Mary B.'s Soup and Mary B.'s Vegetable Soup, as I either avoid the tough stew meat altogether or leave it in the bottom of my bowl.

My husband loves her soup and groaned when I told him I was making a vegetarian version: "Why can't you just leave things alone when they're good; why do you always have to fiddle?" His verdict, however, was three servings the first night! This recipe adds more heat than the original and a spice that I'm sure my Aunt had never heard of, but it's good and you don't miss the meat.

Aunt Mary B.'s Vegetable Soup, Revised



1-3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, sliced thinly & chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 long hot green chili (thai, bird's eye)
3 new potatoes, chopped
~ 1/2 small pkg. crimini mushrooms
1/2 cabbage, sliced thinly
vegetable stock or broth
(I used Vegetable Base mixed w/ 3 c. water)
1 can chopped tomatoes, 28 oz.
1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz.
~ 1/2 c. frozen peas
approx. 1/2 t. Panch Puran
1 - 2 dried red chillies, broken (optional)
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

* Place a Dutch Oven on medium-high heat and add olive oil. * Add carrots through onions and cook 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. * Add garlic and green chili, cooking till garlic begins to brown. * Add potatoes, crimini mushrooms, and cabbage and cook two minutes. * Add vegetable stock/water plus base and cook 15 - 30 minutes, partially covered. * Adjust heat if necessary. * Add chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and cook 15 minutes. * Add frozen peas and spices and cook 10 minutes.

This soup comes together much faster when not made with meat and marrow bones, although it's more work with fresh vs. frozen mixed veggies. Fresh is my preference, however; sorry Mom, you can tell the difference! Be sure to taste as you go. If using a soup base as I did, you may not need to add any salt, and after adding the green and dried red chili(es), you may not need any crushed black pepper. *** Also, this soup "feels right" when the cabbage slices are cooked down to translucent, so get them in early with the vegetable stock. (A better option to get the cabbage just right for this soup is to cook it in water for approx. 30 minutes in a separate pot, then add it to the soup. I will do this next time.)

Aunt Mary B.'s Soup is my entry for the No Croutons Required blog event ... the first I've ever been part of thanks to Holler's invitation. It is hosted this month by Lisa, of Lisa's Kitchen and next month will be hosted by Holler, of Tinned Tomatoes. Both of these wonderful sites have been on my blogroll almost since I started this little adventure.



Thanks Mary Bell. :D

Kale and Chickpea Soup

Originally uploaded by bookbum.

Pulling a bag of wrinkled and shrunken garbonzos from the bottom of my lentil bin, I wondered if they could be saved. How old are these things? Looks like maybe I've been carrying them around since my college days, piling newer beans and lentils on top, these working their way down, year after year after year. I gave them a try, using a recipe I found at Epicurious.com which morphed into something of my own. Changing recipes to suite myself or what I have on hand was once a sacrilege. Who am I to re-think and present a recipe that's been printed in a book or newspaper? Bloggers taught me that I am somebody to do just that (as long as credit is given). Just what my mother has been trying to tell me all along, when I complain on the phone that I can't make such-and-such because I have no heavy whipping cream or fennel or turkey legs or ....

To see the recipe at epicurious.com, click the link above. My adaptation follows.

Kale and Chickpea Soup:

16 oz. chickpeas
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped (1 c.)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 bay leaves (2 if large)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 lb. (approximately 4 c.) stemmed kale, processed finely
32 oz. chicken stock
1 - 2 c. water, as needed

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 links hot Italian sausage, casings discarded, diced

2 hot green chillies, seeds removed
1/2 - 1 tsp. groung Ancho Chili Pepper
1 tsp. Garam Marsala


∗ Soak chickpeas overnight, changing water several times. Cook beans on the stove, or, as I did, in a pressure cooker for 10 -12 minutes, until tender. ∗ Gather and chop ingredients. Stem kale and chop finely in a food processor. ∗ In a 5 - 6 qt. Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cook 5 - 7 minutes, until onions are soft. ∗ Add cubed potato, kale, chicken broth, and water. Cook 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Reduce heat to a simmer. ∗ Meanwhile, "skin" Italian sausages and discard casings. Separate into bite-size pieces and fry in a skillet with a little extra-virgin olive oil until the color changes from opaque to brown. Drain on a paper towel and add to soup. ∗ Add hot green chillies, Ground Ancho Chili Pepper (Penzey's) and Garam Marsala. Pause; stir, taste. Add salt, and ground pepper as needed.

∗ Note: The chickpeas, however old they were, came out beautifully after soaking a day and a half and pressure cooking; pre-soaking chickpeas is normally not required for pressure cooking. The ground ancho chili pepper, extra garlic, and hot green chillies added some of the flavors of the chorizo that was missing from my version. Garam Marsala was a tasty addition to the chickpeas, here, as it is to Bengal gram in Indian cooking.