Gypsy Soup Revisited

"I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks." Totie Fields

Gypsy Soup Sans Garbanzos

I'm going to revisit an old friend, Gypsy Soup, because I've tweaked the recipe since the last time I've shared this priceless gem.  Also, I recently heard information about vegetables that warmed the cockles of my little heart, and I've become very busy in my art studio these past few weeks.  If any of the above makes perfect sense to you I wish you'd explain it to me.  Just kidding.

The information I heard about vegetables came first from one of my dear friends who decided to take action and joined Weight Watchers.  She shared with me that when keeping track of points on the Weight Watchers plan, most vegetables are free and you can eat all you want without fear of gaining weight.  Second, I heard an NPR program, The People's Pharmacy, where studies have come out that show that certain foods cause people to actually lose weight while keeping them super healthy.  The foods were, you guessed it, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and yogurt.  It's possible that nuts were also on the list but don't quote me on that.

So where does my art studio fit in this scenario?  For the past few weeks I've been playing for 8+ hours in my studio every day.  Actually, I'm putting in as many hours as I can squeeze out every day.  So what does this have to do with vegetables?  I decided that cooking was getting in the way of my creativity.  Therefore, I dedicated a half-day to whipping up large batches of my five favorite soups and freezing them in individual containers.  The soups are carrot ginger, cabbage soup, vegetarian chili, gypsy soup, and a mushroom soup made with really good broth (see July 24) and shiitake mushrooms.

My freezer is now crammed with containers of frozen soup and I won't have to cook for about two weeks.  By adding barley or rice to any of the above and simmering the concoction while I create I can add some healthy whole grains to my diet.  Fruits are consumed at breakfast, along with some steel cut oatmeal just to fill my tummy with some good carbohydrates.  But on to the Gypsy Soup!

Ingredients:
  1 T olive oil
  1 onion, chopped
  1 red, yellow or green pepper, diced
  1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
  1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  1 large can diced tomatoes, with juice
  1 t paprika
  1 t turmeric
  1 t basil
  1 t cinnamon
  Dash of cayenne pepper
  4 cups veggie broth
  1 T tamari or soy sauce or Bragg liquid amino
  S&P to taste

Distructions:
  Over medium heat in a large kettles saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil for as long as it takes  to peel and dice the sweet potato.  Stir occasionally if the spirit moves you.  Add the sweet potato and spices and stir to get all the flavors acquainted.  Add everything else except the S&P.  This will go in at the end when you adjust the seasoning.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until the sweet potato pieces are tender, about forty-five minutes to and hour.   Adjust seasoning, which means to add salt and pepper to suit your taste.  Cool the resulting soup in the fridge in a large glass jar.  When cool, transfer to individual freezer containers.

You could also serve this immediately as a meal.  For the freezer batch that I just made I didn't have any garbanzo beans so I left them out.  Am I a master of logic, or what!  I did have great northern beans, which would have worked, but I didn't feel like opening the can.  Logical and lazy.  What's not to love.  By Christmas I should be 10 pounds lighter and able to twitch my nose like a rabbit.  It's a wonderful life!

Loveya
The Mom