Otter Soup

Nay, not soup made from otters! “Otter” as in, “I otter eat more kale” or “I otter used up that zucchini before it goes bad”.

I had been whining earlier about not wanting to eat salads when it’s cold, about eating protein bars regularly, and not having any ideas for snacks. Then the doctor suggested that I get more zinc and vitamin A. So I thought I would put all that in the food processor and dump it in a pot, literally!

Soup can be a great snack, it’s warm and filling and is also forgiving and flexible. There are all sorts of things you can hide in there to get your nutrition. So here was the train of thought -

• Pumpkin: vitamin A, high fiber, good either savory or sweet
• Kale: vitamin A and fiber. I have been a bit off of it since I got a stomach ache from eating it dehydrated when I had the flu.
• Ground turkey: blech! Dark meat turkey has zinc AND vitamin A, in soup it’s just chewy bits
• Zucchini: How old is this one?!? Oh well, it is green and firm and likely edible.
• Celery: under duress I eat celery and actually enjoy it, then I buy a few hearts and they fester in the fridge until I throw them out. Celery has all sorts of health benefits and is totally inoffensive in soup
• Carrots: there were broken and odd sized pieces left from the last bag
• Onion: all sorts of health benefits and a good base for soup
• Red wine: there was a bottle of cooking wine in the fridge with about 1/4c left
• Turkey bacon: it was getting freezer burned because I hate the smell when it fries. Pumpkin loves bacon.
  

So them’s the guidelines for Otter Soup:

• nutrient dense things
• things you don't care for, but ought to eat more of
• lurking leftovers that need to be consumed
• yummy things

You could probably add a “vibe” like 5-spice powder, taco seasoning, Italian herbs, curry powder, etc. If you throw a bunch of stuff you hate into a pot, you will get toxic sludge.

This batch came out AWESOME. I thought the pumpkin might be weird, but you can't really taste it, it just adds some color and a creamy texture to the soup. I didn't even need to add spices. And now I have my tasty PN compliant snack!