Vegetarian Soup Cooked in a Small Microwave Oven

Planning a diet both adequate and interesting using only appliances permitted in a dormitory room is a challenge!  Warming up chicken noodle soup gets old in a hurry.

Our goal with this soup, as with other recipes here, is to prepare a meal from scratch, using mostly fresh ingredients, in an appliance permitted by campus housing in most dorms. In this instance we want a vegetarian soup, and really, vegan stock is a challenge in any circumstance because the broth tends to seem thin and unsatifying.  We've been reading and experimenting, and we've learned that taking care to add ingredients high in glutamates ("umami") as well as those high in flavor helps greatly.

4-5 cups cut-up seasoning veggies to be microwaved

This soup was made in a Pyrex container in a 700 watt (dorm-room size) microwave. It could be done in a hot pot if the recipe is cut in half. This is just the basic soup; once it's prepared, other ingredients - beans and greens - can be added, and the soup heated for a few more minutes.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
Several fresh mushrooms, cut up
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Put all this (loosely) into a 2-quart pyrex container with lid. It should be 4-5 cups; if much less than that, either add more veggies or reduce cooking time.  Mix to coat all ingredients with oil.  Place lid loosely on the container, to capture spatters but allowing steam to escape.

Microwave 15 minutes in a small (700 watt) oven; adjust time downward if your oven is full-size.  Pause occasionally to check and to stir.  The objective here is to wilt the vegetables, and then to lightly saute them.

Then add:

1 small can tomato paste
1 cup frozen green peas
Water to the 6-cup level

Microwave with lid on for 15 minutes.

Now remove 3 cups of the mixture (half of it) for use in another meal.  Freeze it, perhaps.
To the 3 cups remaining in the container, add some fresh ingredients:

Fresh chopped parsley
Chopped green onion
1 regular tomato or a few small ripe tomatoes, cut up

Microwave 5 more minutes.

The soup now is ready to eat!

Basic soup, ready for addition of some fresh ingredients.

To make minestrone, add a few spoonsful of beans and some chopped greens, such as cabbage, and microwave a few more minutes.

We haven't mentioned seasoning! With an herb or two you can give this basic soup the character of your favorite ethnic cuisine.

Salt and pepper to taste.
 Common soup seasonings are bay leaf, and any combination of fragrant herbs. If you want Italian flavors, basil and oregano are the usual. For a more northern experience, try dillweed, or go south with cumin.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).

Thai-style Chicken and Coconut Milk

A Thai style soup with ingredients of canned foods, which could be made in a snack corner in a dorm room where there is no refrigeration. We used a slow cooker,  but it could have been done just as easily in a microwave oven or even in a hot pot.

Thai-style chicken and coconut milk soup from cans

Refrigerated ingredients were: 1 lemon, one carrot, and a bit of ginger.  While a fresh lemon is best, lemon juice in packets could be used in a pinch, and the carrot and the ginger could be done without.  Lemon slices can be "harvested" from the cafeteria, probably...

Ingredients:

Cans:
Chicken breast
Chicken broth
Mushrooms
Green beans
Coconut milk

Fresh:
Carrot
Garlic
Ginger (optional)
Cilantro (optional)
Lemon

Flavorings:
2 Tb. Fish Sauce
1 Tb Chinese chili sauce
Parsley flakes
Onion powder

Pour chicken and broth into the cooking vessel.
Drain and add mushrooms.
Drain, chop up, and add green beans.
Chop and add carrots, garlic, and ginger.
Add the flavorings.

Heat to boiling, turn down to a simmer, and cook until the carrot is soft.

Turn off the heat and stir in the can of coconut milk and the lemon juice.
Add Cilantro if you have it.

Chicken and Coconut Milk Soup

A rich, elegant Asian style soup, much nicer than you would expect from a stack of cans!

Serve alone or with rice.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).