A: Make vegetable soup, of course!
I found myself with this option the other night, as we’d had an event at work that left me with a whole plastic bag full of cut veggies from a vegetable tray from the Lucky Lab. I had brought them to work the next day to try and share but no takers. So the next night, there I was again with my bag of vegetables.
Red, yellow, and green bell peppers, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Oh and a few cherry tomatoes. So, I added a few other things and called it dinner. Since I started with cut veggies, I tried to approximate how much I had of each below. I’m sure it’s not exact but it’s close enough.
Vegetable Soup:
2 green bell peppers, julienned
2 yellow bell peppers, julienned
2 red bell peppers, julienned
8-10 white button mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and cut into circular chunks
1/4 cup red wine
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 cup of broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup dried pasta (I used elbow macaroni)
Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onion, bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms and garlic. Sprinkle with some salt. Saute until onion is translucent and vegetables start to color just a bit. Add wine and cook until mostly absorbed. Then, add stock, oregano, thyme and canned, diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer and add sweet potatoes. Let cook for about 20-30 minutes. The sweet potatoes may break down a little but that will help thicken the soup.
Next, add the pasta and cook for about 5-6 minutes, until pasta is almost done. Add broccoli and cauliflower and simmer for 4-5 more minutes until the broccoli and cauliflower are tender and the pasta is cooked. taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with a little shredded Parmesan cheese on top.