Vegetable Soup

Taste: Very good.

Cleanup: Dead simple.

Ingredients: All available at Publix

For my first actual food, I visited Instant Pot Vegetable Soup, and made some minor modifications.

Because I'm going for dead simple, I left out the quinoa because I didn't want to buy a whole bag full just to get 1/4 cup (which I'd then need to rinse, thus using another utensil which would need cleaning). I also used garlic powder so I didn't have to mince garlic cloves (which I really hate doing). So basically only the inner pot will need cleaning, (plus the bowl I ate a serving from and the ladle I used to scoop the soup). The Publix brand veggies I bought were 11 ounces, not 12, and since I like potatoes, I added a chopped up red potato to help make up the difference, and I figured it might be more flavorful if I used veggie broth instead of plain water, so I dumped in the whole 32 oz of broth from the cardboard box I bought (and drained one of the cans of beans so I didn't have too much liquid). Since it was going to be heated anyway, I really didn't see any point in bringing the liquid to a boil before starting.

It came out very tasty, but I did notice it was easy to fail to turn the steam release knob to the proper setting. The giveaway was the hissing I heard after a few minutes. I turned it off and set the 2 minute pressure cycle again, and this time closed the valve. There didn't seem to be any ill effects from the first few minutes with the valve open (I probably could have just closed the valve, but I wasn't sure how long it had been hissing and wanted to check the liquid level).

In fact, leaving it on venting until steam starts coming out seems to have the same effect as bringing the broth to a boil before adding it to the pot. The veggies seem to come out nicer if I cook it that way, and I don't need to mess up another pot to bring the broth to a boil. Just have to check it every so often to notice if steam is coming out yet.

I've got the leftovers in the pot with a 9 inch lid which fits that I already had around. I guess I'll figure out the "reheat soup" settings tomorrow... (actually I just reheated single servings in the microwave).

Variations

I've made this a few times now, and I've just produced the best variation yet. I stick with the main ingredients I've been using, but completely changed the spices.

Main ingredients:

• 1 package Publix frozen California Vegetable mix.
• 1 package Publix frozen Italian Vegetable mix.
• 1 15 (might have said 14.5) oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can of cannelloni beans
• 1 15 oz can of pinto beans
• one box of low sodium vegetable broth

I never seem to see the same brands of canned beans, but always go for low sodium if I can spot any on the shelf.

The spice mixture I used is the 10 spice mix from this recipe.

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

That makes a big batch of spice mix. I used 2 tablespoons of it with the above soup ingredients.

I dump the frozen veggies in the pot, put the two tablespoons of spice mixture on top of them, then dump in the canned ingredients (I don't bother to drain), then pour the vegetable broth over it all.

Next, the (maybe) important step: I put the lid on and set it to manual for two minutes, but I leave the release valve on venting till I see steam escaping for a minute or two. (As a substitute for having to bring the broth to a boil before pouring it on - that took about 25 minutes).

Once it has boiled for a bit, I close the valve and let it cook for two minutes at high pressure.

Then release the valve, take off the top, stir the pot, and ladle out some soup (there is lots, so I stick the leftovers in the fridge).

The spice list above seems to make much tastier soup without dumping on the salt.

I forgot to chop up and add a potato, but the soup seems fine without it.

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