Hey Chunkahlunkah, Re your stomach, if it's the tomatoes, you should know soon, and it will likely be a temporary thing.
Re veg soup minus tomatoes...I find that beets add some body and lovely color as well. I like purple beets the best, for flavor. With carrots in the mix, the broth gets a rich color and tastes good too. I learned to make borscht from a teacher who had fled the Soviet Union: country-style spare ribs, browned, then set aside but keep any liquid in the pot for the broth; then saute onion and celery & carrots (as you described in your recipe). If memory serves, you cook those in some water for about an hour, then add purple beets & potatoes cut into chunks. (I leave out the potatoes). Cook ~ 15 min until they are almost tender and, last of all, add shredded cabbage, cook until tender, about 15 min. (The last step would be to add chopped tomatoes).
Yeah cottage cheese in soup sounds pretty strange. It's really good in cold soup. In a tomato-based soup, one might imagine it as a variation on the way ricotta works in things like manicotti? (It has to be the right cottage cheese and I haven't found one I like lately). Ok, a definite 'maybe' --I don't want to lose all food cred!
Yum on the recipes and thank-you for describing it so well that I can try it out. I'm excited at the idea of making more flavorful broths by adding vinegar or wine. Btw whoever said Seinfeld was a show about nothing had it all wrong--whether or not soup can be considered a meal is a consuming question Oh wait, it was Seinfeld who said that! Hmmm I love soup, but if I haven't chewed on something, I don't feel I had a meal. My latest batch has very little broth and so I feel very satisfied. Soup feels nourishing & good for the soul, imo. Remember that poem in Alice in Wonderland?
BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!
Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Beau--ootiful Soo-oop!
Soo--oop of the e--e--evening,
Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!
- Lewis Carroll
Thanks for reminding me about soup--so many possibilities!!