Insta-Soup. Really.

If you live in San Francisco, or anywhere in the Bay Area you already know that it's officially freezing.  New Yorkers will say we are wusses (my sister is a New Yorker and I've heard it from it her), but really by our standards this is Bone Cold.  And apparently it's getting colder this weekend.  I came home for lunch in a state of chilliness and really wanted soup to warm me back up.  No canned soup?  No problem.  Read on.

See the Golden Gate Bridge out there?  Doesn't it look cold?

 I made "soup" in about 5 minutes, probably not one that Tyler Florence or Barefoot Contessa would approve of, but it did the trick given that I was freezing.  I'm pretty sure that you will enjoy it too, #goodenough.

Equipment you will need:

• A pot or pan with at least a one inch side.  Like the specifics?  You really can use any pot or pan that you can stir vegetables and and some broth around.  This whole blog is about working with what you have in that kitchen of your city-apartment.  Work it.
• A serving spoon or ladle

Ingredients:

• 1-2T Olive oil (about a 2-3 second pour, I don't measure when I cook, only when I bake)
• Vegetables, whatever you have, chopped into bit size pieces.  I used green beans this time, green beans and mushrooms another time.  You could use mushrooms and onions, carrots,  zucchini, cabbage, whatever you have!

Bite sized green beans.

• Salt and Pepper
• Chicken or Vegetable Broth, from the box.  As much as you want. Simple.

Directions: (ready? this is tricky)

• Turn your stove top to a medium heat.
• Heat the oil in whatever pan you found.
• Add your vegetables (you can throw cooked meat in there, too if you have some leftover).
• Salt and Pepper those bad boys, approximately half the amount of pepper as salt.  Unless you are like me, then use equal parts salt and pepper. 
• Stir them around for about 5 minutes over the heat, they usually get a little brighter in color (if you add meat, it won't get brighter, but might brown a bit)

They are getting brighter as they cook...

• Open the container of broth and pour it in, as much or as little as you want, enough to make it  soupy.  Heat the broth until it starts to simmer, those are the small bubbles, and it will be hot!
• Serve It.  I had mine with fresh bakery bread, toasted with olive oil and salt.  Delish.

Looks like lunch on a cold day to me