We Should Be Folding Laundry

Not too long ago Numi Organics was offering free samples of their new savory teas online.

I love tea and up until that point, had never had the opportunity to try a savory tea blend so I jumped all over that offer.

About a week after I placed the request, I received a package that contained all six flavors included in their Garden Sampler variety box: Tomato Mint, Spinach Chive, Carrot Curry, Fennel Spice, Broccoli Cilantro, and Beet Cabbage.

All of the blends contain organic vegetables, herbs, spices, decaffeinated black or green tea, and they smell fantastic.

These savory teas would be great if you were under the weather or as part of a cleanse but when my box of savory tea samples arrived in my mailbox, I immediately thought soup.

I think it’s the most obvious route.

I make soup quite often when I need to use up some senior veggies that are past their prime.

It doesn’t hurt that my youngest child loves homemade soup. The canned stuff doesn’t do anything for her but if I put a bowl of my vegetable soup in front of her, that bowl is clean in just a few minutes.

I’ve shared my recipe for vegetable soup before so that’s old news.

This next version is even easier (if you can believe that) because it uses leftover marinara sauce.

Most of us will have a half-empty (or is it half-full?) jar of sauce in our refrigerator at some point.

It will inevitably be shoved in the back and forgotten.

So why not put it to good use and make soup?

I actually made two batches of this soup so that I could try out two different flavors of savory tea.

I went with the Fennel Spice and Spinach Chive flavors.

Both were delicious and each lent its own unique flavor to the soup.

Green tea is such a mild flavor on its own, so it really allows the flavors of the herbs and vegetables to come through.

I know I’ve said it before but this vegetable soup is beyond easy to make.

You don’t even need a recipe.

Just chop up some elderly veg and get it sauteing in a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. I used an onion, carrots, celery, and kale.

While this is happening, steep your tea. Just follow the directions on the package.

When your veg has softened, discard the tea bag and add your tea along with 3-4 cups of vegetable stock, a can of diced tomatoes, and some marinara.

How much marinara?

That depends on your broth preference.

If you like a more tomato-flavored broth, add more marinara.

If you like a thinner broth and less tomato flavor, add less marinara.

See, easy.

You really can’t mess this up.

Just let it simmer for a little while until all the flavors come together.

If it needs salt, add it.

If you want oregano or basil or anything else in your herb/spice arsenal, add it.

Easy.

Once everything is nice and hot and the flavors have all mingled and gotten to know one another, you can also add beans and cooked pasta, if you like that sort of thing.

We certainly do.