I have way too many leftover odds and ends from CK’s birthday last Saturday taking up space in the refrigerator so I’ve spent this week trying very hard to not let them go to waste. On Monday I used oodles of leftover broccoli and cauliflower, formerly intended to be dipped in fondue, to make a pretty delicious soup. Then tonight, a big bag of sliced peppers, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and celery that once graced a vegetable tray were roasted with an onion and 4 or 5 whole garlic cloves. This fragrant gaggle of veggies was then combined with chicken stock and fat free Greek yogurt and finally whizzed into submission with my immersion blender. Isn’t it satisfying when junk in your fridge comes together to make something so satisfying? I licked the bowl clean. Want to make a leftover party tray soup of your own? Here’s how I did it:
Easy Roasted Veggie Soup
4 peppers, cut into sticks
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1 celery stalk, cut into sticks (seeing a pattern here…)
1 onion, cut into eighths
4 tomatoes, quartered (or all the little cherry tomatoes leftover from your veggie tray)
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 15 ounce can of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil (or fresh if you have it)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or fresh if you have it)
Pre-heat the oven to 450.
If your veggies aren’t already prepped from a party of your own then chop them up and arrange them on two cookie sheets. Toss the vegetables with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Then roast them for 30 minutes. Switch the cookie sheet locations half way through the roasting cycle.
Meanwhile bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large heavy pot. When the vegetables are lightly browned and charred around the edges remove them from the oven and add them to the boiling liquid. Rinse and drain the Cannellini beans and pour them into the pot as well. Continue lightly boiling the mixture for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to low. Use an immersion blender to carefully puree the contents of the pot. Add the red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, and additional salt and pepper. Then stir in the Greek yogurt. Taste the soup and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
Serve hot with toasted bread. Or, if you over bought for your party, you can toast bread cubes intended for fondue into crispy multigrain croutons and toss them on top.