A Farmhouse Soup for Your Leftovers

This soup stores well for future meals. Kary Osmond/TNS

Often at the end of the week, I have a few leftover ingredients in the fridge that I like to turn into soup: soup that I either freeze or keep in the fridge for the following week’s lunches.

This particular soup reminds me of the soups my grandmother used to make on the farm. Most of the ingredients were grown on her farms and kept through the winter months in their underground root cellar, to be used until the following year’s new bounty.

Farmhouse Soup

Serves 4 to 6

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced onion
• 1 cup finely diced carrot
• 1/2 cups finely diced celery
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled in hands
• 1 potato, diced
• 1/3 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 zucchini, diced
• 1 lemon

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion has softened, about 8 to 10 minutes.