3 2 1 Soup or Easy Peasy Cream of Any Vegetable Soup

I’ve seen this simple method of making cream of vegetable soup before, but never really given it a go.  What I LOVE about it is that you can take anything in your fridge and turn it into a nourishing, satisfying soup in almost no time at all.  Seriously.  And, all you have to remember are the ratios and you can make enough soup for a few or a crowd.  Awesome.

I think I most recently saw Mark Bittman write this up in one of his cookbooks.
Here’s how you do it for 3 or 4 people:

3 cups chicken stock (I used the boxed kind. . . easy, but lazy)
2 cups cut up vegetables ( I had broccoli to use up, but you could do potatoes or greens or whatever you have lying around)
1 cup dairy (you could use any of or a combination of  milk, yogurt, cream, 1/2 and 1/2 . . . you get the idea).
A clove of garlic cut in half.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring your stock to a boil and add the veggies and garlic.  Put the lid on so you don’t lose all of your stock in steam, turn down the heat and simmer the veggies until they are soft.  No veggies should take more than 10 minutes.
Blend up that mixture.  I use a stick blender right in the pot.
Add your dairy and very lightly heat it through.  Don’t let it boil with the dairy in it.  Add salt and pepper to taste and you’re done.  The stock I used was so flavorful that I didn’t even add any salt and pepper.  Abby ate it and friends, that’s sayin’ something!

All you have to remember is *3, 2, 1* and you can make this with anything you have on hand lickety split.  Yum.