Old Crone Cookery

[covenrochester]

Vegetable Soup

It is likely that, before a Witch teaches you herbalism, she will talk about nutrition. It has long been known by the Wise and traditional medicine practitioners that daily food can be our daily medicine, too. One thing that people seem to have difficulty with is getting enough vegetables every day. Women tend to do better at that than men, I have noticed. In any event, a good solution to the issue is a vegetable soup, made in the simple style of old crone cookery. This is actually a very common soup made throughout France, and thousands and thousands of people---adults and children---eat some almost every day as part of supper. It couldn't be easier.

It is usually made with a peeled POTATO, a peeled TURNIP, a trimmed and cleaned LEEK, two peeled CARROTS, and two stalks of CELERY.* Dice everything into a rough chunk of the same size. Put it in a pot. Add water to cover, plus a bit, and then put it on stove and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are soft. When it is done, let it cool a bit, and then blend** it in batches in a blender, mixing all the blended soup together in another big bowl or pot. Now you can add SALT, PEPPER, a pinch of CAYENNE, some stripped leaves of THYME, CURRY powder, or whatever you like. You can freeze some of the soup, and put the rest in the refrigerator. Eat 12-16 oz. of it to start dinner, or with some buttered bread, and a nice piece of cheese or sausage, it could BE dinner. Sometimes the French will stir in a bit of cream or creme fraiche, or add a piece of soft cheese to melt into the soup.

This soup is packed with nutrition. You are using the water in which the vegetables have boiled as the base for the soup. You have cooked it long enough that the cell walls of the vegetables have been broken down, giving maximum acceess to vitamins and minerals. You can add and subtract vegetables as you like. Perhaps an onion instead of a leek. Or add a hot pepper, an eggplant, some chopped kale or dandelion greens or collards, a clove or two of garlic. It is a blank canvas for your experimentation and delight. Like a thinner soup? Add more water. Thicker? Add less.

* And if you like old crone cookery, you'll be saving and freezing those vegetable trimmings and scraps for when you have some bones and want to make a meat stock.

** Or use a hand blender right in the pot. Or, if you are very old school, strong, and patient, a potato masher.


*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester