M. Suzanne Terry

(Not a pic of the most recent leftover soup described below, but definitely one of my happier accidents from the past)

One of the things I get most excited to make when the weather is even the slightest bit chilly is leftover soup. It’s especially useful at the end of a holiday or multiple days of gathering when you’ve cooked a lot and have multiple random bits of dishes too big to throw out but too small to serve everyone for another meal. It combines three of my favorite things:

• Soup
• Creativity
• Minimizing food waste

I take a look in my fridge and pantry and identify the items that will definitely be beyond their useful date before I get around to eating them. Or items that I have a ridiculous amount of (like The Great Chickpea Debacle of yore pictured above). Or items that don’t go with anything else but the very specific recipe I bought them for. Or items that would just taste great in a soup.

I gather them, imagine what they would taste like together, and ponder a spice profile that most closely fits it (and also my existing spice collection). Then I warm some oil, chop up whatever soupy aromatics (onion, garlic, celery, peppers, carrots) I have on hand, add them to the oil, and get started crafting my soup.

This past Saturday, I got to teach my dad how to make leftover soup. This was thrilling in several ways. First, I hardly ever get to teach my dad cooking tips – it’s usually just following his instructions on whatever plan he already has in his mind. Second, I got to root around freely in their over-the-top herb/spice collection. Finally, I got to watch his amazement as he discovered the joys of combining coconut milk and lemon, one of my favorite culinary delights in life.

In addition to sauteed onion, garlic, and celery, we combined:

• mashed sweet potatoes with rosemary and butter
• boiled russet potatoes
• green bean casserole (green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, and those weirdly addictive crunchy onion things)
• cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, random garden herb blend, fresh cracked black pepper, salt
• coconut milk
• lemon juice

Other than adding enough water to make it the consistency we wanted, we didn’t fuss around with it too much. Just let it thicken and simmered it until we declared it done.

It was a hit! The end result was homey and warm and comforting and delicious. I was especially pleased with the salty-sweet theme. Mom, Dad, and I all enjoyed it, and I got to bring the small amount we had left over home to savor the next day.

If you’ve never made leftover soup, I highly recommend it. It’s a low-stakes experiment from which you may discover new favorite flavor profiles or combos.