posted by Jane 04-20-100 8:20 AM
Salad Bar Soup
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon shredded carrot
1 tablespoon diced celery
4 to 6 cherry tomatoes
1 (10.5-ounce) can chicken broth, preferably reduced-sodium
2 to 4 tablespoons red kidney beans (rinsed if necessary)
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped ham or turkey or a mixture
1 tablespoon sliced banana peppers
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 cup broccoli florets
2 tablespoons pasta salad (see note)
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté 2 to 3 minutes, until slightly softened. Lower heat to medium.
Halve tomatoes and add to pan. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until tomatoes have softened.
Add broth, kidney beans, ham or turkey, sliced peppers and oregano. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in broccoli, cover and cook 5 minutes. Stir in pasta and cook briefly, just to heat through. Taste and correct seasoning. (If you aren't using reduced-sodium broth, make sure you taste the soup before adding salt.)
Note: You can rinse the dressing off the pasta salad. However, a hint of vinegar can spark up a soup. In ours, we left the dressing on the pasta and found it gave the soup a zippy taste. Other ingredients that would go great with this soup include mushrooms (add them in the second step, with the tomatoes) and fresh spinach leaves (stir them in at the very end, with the pasta.)