Soup in a Hurry

Today is still chilly and cloudy, and the bathroom painting project that should have taken one day is on day two. On top of all that, I work this evening, so dinner is going to be disjointed again!

One of our favorite fall back plans is soup, and one of my favorites is clean-out-the-fridge soup. I keep a thickened tomato broth in my pantry, made from simmering ripe tomatoes and then putting them through a food mill, producing a smooth, slightly thick "juice" to which I add some herbs and then can. I will put a quart of this tomato broth into a pot, then add all sorts of leftovers from my fridge and freezer. Corn or green beans from the freezer, slice up the leftover sausage from last night's dinner or chunk/shred the last of the rotisserie chicken you bought two nights ago, chop up the half an onion sitting in the fridge, toss in some leftover small pasta, heat it all through in about 10 minutes on medium-high, and we'll have hot soup in 15 minutes total prep and cook time. This can be vegetarian or even vegan, loaded with meat, or whatever you want. Substitute a big can of V8 for the homemade tomato broth. Sprinkle the soup with croutons, shredded cheese, whatever you think goes together.

Our version tonight will be tomato broth, sausage crumbles, corn, onion, and pasta with some rolls warmed up from the freezer or maybe some french bread (we buy a big loaf of french bread, slice it, then put all the slices back in the bag, and freeze, pulling out slices as we need them - they thaw on the counter in under 10 minutes). Leftovers can be frozen or eaten over the next couple of days.