Cool Weather Herbs and Rata-stoup-ie

I love to have fresh herbs on hand for all of the wonderful soups that come with cool weather. There is nothing quite like sitting around the table with loved ones to share a hearty and filling meal, unless you know that most of those ingredients came straight from your own bountiful garden. Seeing others enjoy the fruits of my labor always puts a smile on my face that is usually accompanied with a deep, content sigh.

You don't need much room to plant a little herb garden. Even if you are limited on space, you can still have fresh herbs. A few that do really well in mild cold weather months are Parsley, Cilantro, Mint, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Chives, and even Lavender. Fall is the perfect time of year to plant them since they are hardy and will grow quickly. Even better than that, you can plant them all together in the same container, or use beautiful green parsley and cilantro to spruce up existing flower gardens that are brimming with beautiful Winter flowers.

Now To Use Them!

I came across a wonderful Rata-Stoup-Ie recipe from Rachael Ray that is just delightful. It will use some of those fresh herbs you have lovingly planted and a few other garden fresh vegetables that you can also grow in small spaces. I hope you love this hearty soup as much as my family does!

Rata-stoup-ie

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 lb potatoes quartered (ANY variety works, but I prefer small red potatoes)
• 1 eggplant, chopped, skin on
• 1 zucchini chopped, skin on
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh Thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
• 4-5 leaves fresh Sage, thinly sliced
• 30oz tomato sauce
• 1qt chicken both
• Parsley, generous handful
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Bread of choice 

Preparation:

1. In a large soup or stock pot heat your olive oil and tilt pot around to cover the bottom and then add garlic over medium heat.
2. Add potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and onion. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 min.
3. Add Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth, stirring thoroughly. Cover an cook over medium heat for 15 minutes; stir occasionally.
5. Remove from heat. Discard Thyme and Rosemary stems (leaves remain in soup and will have fallen off. You can omit this step but plucking the leaves before adding.) Stir in Parsley.
6. Serve with bread and enjoy!

I use vegetables from my garden and even make my own tomato sauce. For this particular recipe, you can use everything straight from your own garden except for the chicken stock of course. I like to make my own chicken stock when I boil chicken for other things and then I flavor the leftover water and can or even freeze it for later. While preparing everything, I like to have a little kitchen help. Here are the gadgets that help me prepare soups like this. You can find ALL of these wonderful helpers on our website www.lawn-gardening-tools.com or you can click right on the name to take you straight to the product. 

I have a special chopping board with knife that makes chopping all of these vegetables a breeze. One board, one knife, simple clean up and storage. I love my EZ Cutting Board. For smaller tasks, I sometimes use my Food Chopper. Either will work just as well and save you time.  For fresh tomato sauces, juice, stock, etc I use a Tomato Press.  I love to gather my garden fresh tomatoes and spend a day making puree, stocks, sauces, and marinara, then I freeze them so I can pull them out all during the year to enjoy. If you would like to can your tomatoes or make your own chicken broth, I highly recommend our Multi-Use Canner. It even has a built in thermometer. How neat is that?!

We even have you covered when you are ready to plant. Check us out at www.verticalgardeningsystems for a wide variety of container planters.