Here’s Kathy’s soup. She is a busy mother of three, and this is a recipe she developed over time to delight her children (they like the shells) and herself (easy to make). She took it to a soup potluck recently, and was the only one with an empty soup crock to take home.
Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1 cup shredded carrots (2-3 large)
3 cups diced potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups water
2 cups pasta shells
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 can coconut milk (or 1 cup raw cashew nuts and 1½ cups water)
10-ounce can tomato soup (may use 15-ounce can tomatoes in juice)
1 tablespoon chicken-like seasoning
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon dill weed
1 bunch cilantro leaves
Directions:
1. Place onion, carrots, potatoes, salt, and water in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes.
2. Add pasta shells, diced green onions, and remaining seasonings. Simmer 8 more minutes.
3. Blend coconut milk (or cashew nuts), tomato soup, and corn in a blender until smooth. Add to soup along with cilantro leaves and heat to serving temperature.
Hint: It’s a tedious job picking all those cilantro leaves off the stems. Kathy says she does that job while talking on the phone to a friend. The bright-green leaves floating in the soup are very pretty, but if you don’t have time for that, just cut most of the stems off the bunch of cilantro, and put the tops in the blender after blending the corn mixture. Turn on for a few seconds, just enough to chop the cilantro coarsely.
Makes 12 cups.
Variation: Also nice with 1 cup frozen peas thawed and added just before serving.
Source: Seven Secrets Cookbook, used with permission.
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