3073. Vegan soup © Bruce Goodman 2 January 2025

How insulting is that? I’ve cooked all my life. I cooked for a large growing family and for three husbands, yet Virginia who lives next door had the audacity to say that I couldn’t cook vegan if I tried. Can’t cook vegan? I’ll teach her a thing or two. She’s far too skinny; skinny as a rake as they say – which goes to show what little good eating only vegetables does for you. Next Sunday evening the street is having a party; a barbeque meal where everyone brings something along. Some call it a Potluck whereas over here it’s called Bring-a-plate (of course the presumption is that the plate had some food on it to be shared!) Anyway, I’m going to show Virginia a thing or two. I’ve just cooked a vegan soup and I’ll make her eat some if it’s the last thing she does. At first I threw in some silverbeet (chard) and a swede (rutabaga) or two. Followed by potatoes, carrots, and even some capsicums (bell peppers). Of course the recipe said to use vegetable bouillon but I didn’t have any in the pantry, so I used chicken bouillon (which I might add is a lot nicer). I boiled everything for a good hour or so, and in the end thought it tasted a bit bland. I’m one of those creative cooks that make things up as a I go. To give the soup a little more depth I added some bacon bones and simmered it for an extra hour. I couldn’t cook vegan if I tried, she said. What a numb-skull! Virginia will have to eat humble pie once she gets a mouthful of my soup. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story