Soup: best way to use and love all those orphaned veggies in your fridge

Last weekend my husband and I threw a big party up in Polebridge. It was lots of fun. There were friends who made the trip from all over the place and we soaked in the mountains of Glacier, ate amazing pastries, and cooked a lot of good food. 

And we had a lot of leftovers, when all was said and done. And not a lot of energy. 

We also had an abundance of random veggies. Spinach, a few kohlrabi tops, a few kohlrabi roots, and a lot of grilled hamburgers and andouille sausages. It was cold this week, so the soup was on! 

Here's what I did: 

Ingredients

• 5 garlic scapes, chopped in 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 old carrot from the back of the fridge. Yes, it was probably a year old. I peeled it and chopped it small.
• 2 stalks of celery (optional), chopped small
• 2 shallots (also a year old - this is possibly the longest lasting storage vegetable known to humankind), chopped 
• 2 small kohlrabi, peeled and chopped
• 1 mini zucchini, chopped
• 8 cups broth (I used chicken, but you could use anything you have on hand)
• 3 Andouille sausages, sliced in half then chopped
• 6 Hamburgers (probably a 1 1/2 lb?), broken up as small as you like
• 6-10 oz spinach, stems removed 
• 2 - 4 tablespoons taco seasoning blend (I used Danielle Walker's blend of chili powder, sea salt, cumin, oregano, onion powder, ground coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper -- check out her book, Meals Made Simple if you want the proportions. Another great spice blend can be found in this soup recipe -- it is very similar) 

How to: 

I pulled all the stuff I needed to use out of the fridge and got organized. I chopped all the ingredients ahead, then heated up my soup pot. 

I sauteed the mirepoix of scapes, garlic, celery, and shallot for 10 minutes while I broke all those hamburger patties up. 

I added the kohlrabi. Sauteed for another 2 - 4 minutes.  

Then I added the broth and cooked until the kohlrabi was still crisp, but had softened a bit. Then I added the hamburger and sausage and the zucchini. I also put a lot of my favorite Mexican spice blend from Danielle Walker. 

Just before serving, I added the spinach and let it wilt. 

You could put so many different ingredients in soup and have it taste great. Try some variations as you move through the season. If it stays cool, that is. . . 

The year old scallion, with carrots and kohlrabi greens on the sides.