Eggs can be added to different dishes to add a little something different. In this soup, I added the eggs as an extra source of protein. It made sense to me since the broth base is chicken, the rest of the ingredients are vegetables and honestly, it just sounded good. The eggs are able to not only stand up to the vegetables, but they contribute very nicely to the flavor and texture of the soup.
The yolk of the eggs adds an extra creamy layer to this soup and blends in well with the broth, basil and other ingredients. I know that soup is usually enjoyed in the chillier months of the year, but this one can be served hot or chilled to blend in with the current season. Of course it's thicker when it's served chilled but still nice and very yummy.
This type of soup is a great and unusual way to help utilize any extra eggs that you may have from your chickens or from a sale that you took advantage of at the grocery store.
The ingredients can be modified to whatever you have on hand along with what is in season. Experiment with local, in season vegetables instead of boxed, bagged or canned ingredients. You'll notice a popular vegetable is missing in this version of our soup, corn. It's because right now it is not in season in Indiana and our corn isn't being harvested quite yet.
In the fall, I would omit the spring vegetables and use things like carrots, turnips, sugar snap peas and anything else that is ready to harvest that you have on hand or in the garden. Vegetable soup is extremely versatile and home made is so much better than out of a can without as much work as you would think.
Vegetable soup freezes very well in a plastic freezer bag. You can make the soup, minus the eggs and freeze in single servings to defrost another day. This is especially nice once these vegetables have spent their harvest and are no longer available in the area.
Keep it simple and that keeps it easy and fantastic! That's exactly what home made garden vegetable soup should be. Simple, easy and fantastic.
Ingredients for the Soup as Pictured
- 32 ounces of chicken broth
- 2 medium size potatoes
- 1/2-pound cherry tomatoes
- a handful of Chinese long beans
- a handful of fresh green beans
- 1 onion bulb and top
- a handful of fresh basil
- 2 okra pods
- 4 chicken eggs
- 1/2 cup barley
How Long Does it Take?
Prep time: about 30 minutes Cook time: about an hour Yields: 3 VERY generous servings
How to Put it All Together
All of the vegetables will need to be washed and roughly chopped. I leave the skin on the potatoes because I happen to like that but you can peel them first if you don't. Leave the skin on the cherry tomatoes to keep them together during the cooking. If you remove the skin they will disappear in the soup!
Test your eggs to make sure they are fresh, there is a video on the sidebar (<----over that way) that will show you how if you don't know. Hard boil the eggs then put them into an ice bath until you are ready to peel them.
While the eggs are cooking, pour the chicken stock into your soup pan and add the onion, potatoes and basil. Do the first seasoning of salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 20 minutes. (Your eggs should be ready for the ice bath about now.)
Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the fire to about medium/low heat. Just enough to keep it at a nice simmer for about 40 minutes.
Drain and peel the eggs while the soup is cooking. Periodically stir the soup to keep anything from sticking. Since there is only 32 ounces of broth, this will be a very chunky soup as some of the broth liquid evaporates with the heat.
Cut the eggs in half and set them aside. By now the soup will have thickened up a bit because of the potatoes. If you can't resist the urge to press the cherry tomatoes to the side of the pan and pop them, go ahead because they shouldn't fall apart and disappear at this point. You'll do your final salt and peppering to taste here.
Scoop the soup out into bowls and top with the boiled egg halves. I suggest nipping the egg pieces with the spoon to get a little piece in every bite. It really is a fantastic ingredient in home made vegetable soup!
Add a nice garlic cheese flat bread, home made bread (my homemade wheat bread recipe is HERE) or crackers and you have a nice, healthy meal that won't weigh you down or make you feel like you just ate half the grocery store!
The last thing you'll need to do is enjoy it. Share it with friends. Share it with family. They will love you for it! Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers to enjoy later.
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