rainbow soup

in my colombian mother-in-law's home, there is always soup on the table for lunch. served with rice and a colorful salad, a simple soup is always where lunch begins. her mother did the same, perhaps because a large pot of soup was the easiest and most economical way to feed her twelve children (that's right, twelve!) or perhaps because a hot bowl of soup just feels so good.

this rainbow soup is what happens when you set out to make sopa de cuantuay, spanish for whatever's there soup... or in other words, soup of whatever is left in the fridge so there need not be any last minute supermarket runs to source ingredients for lunch!

it starts with a big pot of boiling water. add a whole stalk of green onion, a few cloves of minced garlic, and a generous sprinkle of both salt and goya adobo (a garlic salt that serves as a key ingredient in latino cooking).

next, you have the choice to deepen your broth by adding a piece of chicken (as my mom-in-law does) or just keeping it veg. i like to use a good bouillon to round out the flavor in a vegetarian broth so for this i used better than bouillon organic vegetable base.

once your water is boiling and you've got a good tasty stock going, throw in whatever you've got hiding in the kitchen cabinets and taking up space in the fridge. today i used...

a few stalks of celery celery
a few carrots
a handful of purple potatoes
two or three tomatoes
half an acorn squash
a cup or so of red split lentils
a couple leftover chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
a few bay leaves
a handful of penne shaped rice noodles (an exciting discovery at the asian market!)

don't be scared! anything is fair game and will only make your pot of soup more wonderful. just chop it all up and toss it in.

boil until all the veggies are softened but still structured and bright in color. remove from heat and top with a generous heap of green onions and cilantro, both finely chopped. this last step is crucial as it adds such a burst of flavor.

serve hot with a squeeze of lime, a drizzle of good olive oil and a side of rice. or skip the rice and help yourself to another bowl of the goodness that results when you make something out of (almost) nothing.