Friendship soup

Day two of my challenge to cook from my cupboards brought me a delicious soup. Soup is difficult to ruin, which is why I love making it so often. It gives me the ability to experiment with flavors so I know what goes well together when I want to make a less-forgiving meal.

For Christmas, my mom gave each of us a jar of soup mix called "Friendship soup." I believe it was made by someone she works with and came in a jar with a recipe tied to the jar with cute ribbons. I didn't follow the recipe at all, though.

I chopped an onion, a leek, a zucchini and lightly sauteed them in olive oil (in my Dutch oven). Meanwhile, I browned a pound of hamburger. I seasoned it with ground pepper and garlic salt. When the vegetables were cooked, I added a carton of Trader Joe's roasted red pepper soup and four cups of water. I also added the entire jar of soup mix and brought the soup to a boil before letting is simmer for 40 minutes.

It came out very thick, so I added another cup of water. It looked almost like chili and gave me the idea to use this mix to, in fact, make chili in the future. I have one more jar, so I'll probably give it a try within the next few weeks.