Creating in the Kitchen: Country Vegetable & Ham Soup

If you read this post, you know that this time last year I was in the throes of testing soup recipes for my good friend Jennifer, The Fairy Mum.  Her wonderful soup recipes are now perfected and available for free download here, but my creativity in the kitchen has just begun.

I have been cooking since I was old enough to stand on a chair at the counter and help my mom, but I have never been much of a creative cook; I’ve always been more of a recipe follower.  I loved finding and trying new recipes, but I seldom, if ever, strayed from the recipe as written.  Until last winter, that is.  When Jennifer asked me to help test her soup recipes, I willingly agreed, excited to try something new!  And then… the recipes arrived in my in-box:  some of the recipes were complete, others were not, and some even said, “needs work” in the title… Hmmm, what in the world was I going to do with those recipes?  I mean, how do you follow a recipe that isn’t quite complete or needs work?

Well, it turns out, you just jump in, tasting as you go, and see how it turns out.  Sometimes the results were not quite what I had intended, but more often than not, they were good!  And sometimes, we liked the alterations to the recipes even better than the original recipe, as with adding thin egg noodles  to the St. Shannon’s soup instead of fun-shaped pasta.  (If you’re curious, don’t forget to download Jennifer’s soup recipes here).

It seems that this initial foray into creative cooking released a new daring and creativity in my cooking.  I am now more likely to combine recipes, substitute ingredients, and just plain make-it-up-as-I-go.  As I did tonight with this Country Vegetable and Ham Soup:

 Country Vegetable and Ham Soup

5 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)

1 29-oz can whole tomatoes, cut into large, but spoonable pieces

1 medium onion, cut in a large dice

2 4-oz. cans sliced mushrooms, drained

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups frozen peas

2 cups cooked ham, cut in a large dice

2 cups potatoes, peeled & cut in a large dice

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, for garnish

Place all ingredients (except cheese) in a crock-pot.  Cook for 7-8 hours on low or  4-5 hours on high.  Salt and pepper to taste before serving.  Top with grated mozzarella and serve.

This soup was an attempt to make a quick and easy soup dinner from ingredients we had on hand… and you know what?  It worked!  The soup smelled wonderful while cooking, and tasted even better at dinner time.  Give it a try, and feel free to change the recipe to better suit your family or to use the ingredients you have on hand.  After all, this soup started out as a little of this and a little of that, and now, it’s a family favorite!

Happy Creative Cooking!