Almost every morning Stacy posts a picture of her breakfast to Instagram. Most of the time, this breakfast is soup. And almost every time we are bombarded for requests for “Recipe?!”
I really don’t know how to respond to that request. First of all, if there is a recipe available for anything we share, we will include the link somewhere in there or tell you where to find it. Second, and most problematic, is that there is no recipe for Breakfast Soup. In fact, just like a snowflake, every breakfast soup is unique and assembled on the fly in about thirty minutes.
So rather than give you a set recipe to follow, I’ve decided to teach you how to make your own version.
The most important thing to keep in mind here is that this is a versatile set of instructions that will allow you to figure out what you like best. Experiment! Try something new! There is no correct answer!
Before you start on your breakfast soup adventure, you’ll need a couple of things made ahead of time. The base of every breakfast soup is a good stock, some leftover, cooked meat, and some diced vegetables.
There are many stock (often erroneously called “bone broth” because of alliteration and the emphasis on the use of bones in its preparation) recipes out there. There’s one in both Eat Like a Dinosaur and Beyond Bacon plus Nourishing Traditions or any of the thousands of cookbooks out there. There’s even an online one on Balanced Bites. Essentially, all you need to do to make stock is simmer some bones in water with some acid, salt and pepper for many, many hours. You can use beef, pork, chicken, lamb, veal, fish or any other bones you have around. Once the bones begin to soften you take it off the heat, skim the excess fat from the top and refrigerate until ready to use.
For your meat, anything will do! Stacy’s favorite is left over chicken or steak . This morning I used hamburgers. I’ve also included sausage, both links and loose.
For vegetables, the sky is the limit! I try to always start with onions and garlic. Then I usually have carrots, celery and mushrooms around. Sometimes I’ll add a diced starch like sweet potato, butternut squash, acorn squash or even beets. For softer veggies, try yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage. You can also add greens if you’d like like spinach or chard.
To start your soup:
- Get a medium saucepan and melt some lard, bacon grease or butter over medium heat.
- Once melted, add your veggies with salt and pepper to taste and saute until softened, about five to ten minutes.
- Add your meat and heat through for another three minutes.
- Finally, add your broth and bring to a simmer.
At this point, you’ll need to think herbs and spices. We’ve used sage, rosemary, thyme, and tarragon for herbs. We’ve also added cumin, coriander, and even cloves for spices. Just depends on what protein/veggies you add, what stock you use and what mood you’re in! Once added, cover your pot and allow to simmer for about twenty minutes or until your wife has to leave for work! It’s that simple!
Need some ideas to get started? For a real chicken noodle soup vibe, I use pork stock, diced chicken breast, mushrooms and zucchini with tarragon. For a hardier soup for a winter day, simmer beef stock with diced leftover pork burgers sliced cabbage and sage. And my favorite has always been chicken stock with sliced beef, carrots, broccoli, and spinach. Add some fish sauce, Thai basil and mint and you have what I call a “quick pho.”
Starting your day with a delicious protein-rich and nourishing soup will not only add variety to your team, but will include the healthful benefits of stock (like calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, gelatin and collagen). Daily soup has helped Stacy put symptoms of auto-immune disease in remission, cleared her skin and build muscle for training. It will truly keep you full all morning long.
Not only that, but it’s so quick to assemble you will shock your spouse that you can produce wonderful food in so short a time! Or, you can certainly make a large pot on the weekend and then enjoy a bowlful a day – like this batch we shared with Danielle of Against All Grain when she visited!
