Borscht

 This is a squash and tomato borscht.  Easy to make nearly no fat at all (croutons, cheese, olive oil would add fat).  It can be vegan, just leave out egg slices and no cheese.  It can be served cold on a wicked hot day or warm to make a chill go away.

This recipe is for 3 hearty servings, double for more or leftovers.

Soup Base:
2 cups pureed tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/2 onion
1/4 jalapeno with seeds included
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 potato cut into little cubes
1 TBSP olive oil
pinch oregano
pinch salt
pinch basil (dry) or add fresh basil leaves in the last minutes before serving
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash

*1/3 or more concentrated vegetable stock from your own recipe! (below)

If you are having croutons you'll want to preheat the oven after everything is chopped and the soup is going. After the stock is finished and I'm about to add it to the soup then I bake the croutons at 350 for about 5 minutes on each side with the pan lightly olive oiled and making sure each slice is rubbed in the oil.  Once the croutons are browned and crisp they are done.

For the soup base put all your ingredients into a pot except the squash and zucchini and simmer until potatoes are semi-soft - now is when you add your squash and zucchini then the vegetable stock last and stir together and leave to simmer once potatoes are soft it is done. If your soup seems too thick for you then add a little water... taste and if you wish to extend it further add a little more.

Veggie stock can include a lot of things and is not limited to this list but is what I used for the one tonight.

*stock:
handful rainbow chard stems cut down (you can use the soft leaves in another meal)
handful parsley stems
handful cilantro stems
1/4 purple onion (doesn't need to be purple, whatever is on hand is fine)
handful carrot butts (the orange end before the greens can be used in the stock but the greens tend to not add so much flavor as the hard little stem parts)
1 handful mixed stems from zucchini and squash

To make the stock you add 1-2 cups water to cover some of the vegetables and boil until the broth becomes yellow-amber.  The darker the color the richer the stock. Strain the broth off and toss the stems and butts into the compost. You wont need much broth to add a lot of flavor to a soup. So don't worry if you haven't much after the boil and straining. Also boil just until veggies are starting to get soft, you don't want them to break down to the point of mush that creates the bad stuff.  I like to add my stock to the meal when it is nearly done as it wont need to cook again.  If it is frozen then leave it out to thaw it rather than simmering it down if you can.

I made some hard boiled eggs to serve along with the soup and a sprinkle of parsley and some grated cheddar.  I only regret not eating it with more parsley!  So tasty.