Fridge Dump Soup

Today's meal was supposed to be cauliflower cheese. Problem: after I asked Joe to steam the cauliflower, ​I realized we had no cheese.

So instead, I made soup, which was also great for using up a lot of odd produce bits and ends in the fridge.​

Ever made fridge dump soup before? It's not an exact science. Here's what I usually do: 

• Warm 2 Tbsp.  olive oil in a big ol' pot over medium heat.
• Add chopped onion, garlic, celery (or the powder/salt version of one or more if you don't have it or are too lazy to mince garlic), as well as any hard veggies. Today, I added a handful of sliced baby carrots. 
• Cook, stirring frequently, until everything starts to soften, a little less than 10 minutes. 
• Add soft veggies and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Today, I added zucchini and the cauliflower since we'd already accidentally steamed it. Also add salt, pepper, and other soup seasonings. Dried parsley and red pepper flakes won today.
• Add broth and simmer about 20 minutes. If you have a Parmesan rind, toss it in! (Just don't forget to fish it out at the end.)
• If you're adding pasta, turn the soup up to a slight boil and cook slightly less than the "al dente" time. 

The soup wasn't quite doing it for me at first, so I used an immersion blender to make it smoother, but still a little chunky. Then, I added more orzo pasta. We liked it a lot better the second way. The blended up cauliflower made it creamy without cream, which is a beautiful thing on January 4.