3-Brain Cell Vegetable Soup, Plus Some Complaining

Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control (our Mac's hard drive went kaput and my husband's laptop went in for servicing), I have been completely without internet access all week. Well, that's not really true. I've had the internet, but no medium through which to explore it. All those invisible, helpful internet waves (that's how I imagine them) aren't so helpful after all without the beloved computers.

In a house such as ours--read: one without a television--this is a more-than-slightly mildly offputting circumstance to endure, and I've been driven nearly frantic this week, as I have had very little contact with the outside world (I don't count a trip to Wal-Mart to argue with an unknowledgable Vision Center salesperson, followed by a visit to the tanks of fish in the pet supply department, as contact) and have, instead, been forced indoors due to rain with three whiny children. And OH WAIT there is no computer with which to play a movie to soothe the savage beasts.

I'm sorry, am I complaining? I'll stop.

The kind of happy ending to this story is that we have both computers back. In The Great Mac Wipeout of 2009 we lost only a few of our most recent pictures...as well as the 30-something digit encryption code for our internet access. Hmm. As Raechel and Ryan can both personally attest to, we had hidden said code (thanks need to go out to Eric, our favorite computer guy and also evidently a security freak) ON THE COMPUTER. It was ON THE COMPUTER.

That was sort of an inside joke. But believe me. It was a good one.

So that means two things: 1) the Mac is useable, but currently not internet-worthy, and 2) the Dell is useable, except its DVD drive doesn't work, even after sitting in IT for a week.

I'm sort of in a computer funk this week.

Onward and upward. Rachel has been hounding me (as she should; I often need hounding) for what I called my 3-Brain Cell Veggie Soup recipe. I got this recipe from my mom, who originally got it from some magazine or recipe book from somewhere. Mom, if you find the original one, let me know so I can be good and give credit. And Rachel, let the record show that I am responsive to hounding.

3-Brain Cell Vegetable Soup (Originally titled "Chunky Vegetable Soup," but I don't like the word chunky because it makes me think of gross things.)

Prep: 10 min.
Cook: 35 min.
Feeds: a buttload of folks (Seriously--this recipe makes 2 freakin' gallons of soup. Have it for dinner and freeze the rest.)

Ingredients:

1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 t. salt (I leave this out)
1/2 t. pepper
3 (14 oz.) cans beef broth
3 (29 oz.) cans mixed vegetables with potatoes, rinsed
3 (14 1/2 oz.) cans diced new potatoes, rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can sweet peas with pearlized onions, rinsed
2 (26 oz.) jars tomato, herbs, and spices pasta sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with sweet onion

Directions:
Cook onion in a little olive oil in large Dutch oven until onion is translucent. Add beef broth, pepper (and salt, if using) and bring to a boil.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Return to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer at least 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

And that's it. This recipe is so simple it almost makes me want to laugh. What's more, it's really, really good. Sweet, savory, and just right for cold, drizzly evenings of fading sunlight. And please don't think too hard about all of the "required" cans of whatnot. If all you can find are plain old sweet peas, use them and either forget the extra onions or chop another one to compensate. If the mixed veggies don't have potatoes, well, you'll have enough, believe me. This entire recipe maybe costs me $5, and I don't stress about what's in what can. Also, I leave out the salt because, frankly, canned vegetables have quite enough, even after a thorough rinsing.

And if you prefer a little meat in your soup, then you can easily add some ground beef. The original recipe had you browning ground beef with the onion, draining it, and then going from there, but I've never fixed it with meat. (We only eat meat once a week or so, so I've accumulated a lot of pseudo-vegetarian meals. And yes, I realize there is beef broth in here. Easily substituted, although, to be fair, it gives the soup a great flavor.)

This is a fantastic meal for wintertime, when you're short on fresh veggies and dying for a savory soup, and I've also found that, due to the immense volume of soup created, it's great for taking to folks who might like a spot of dinner themselves. So please: share the vegetable soup joy.

Also, share the aluminum can joy, since you'll have a lot. Poke them into unsuspecting neighbors' recycling bins so you don't go over quota and consider it a way of doing your part for the environment.