The USB (Universal Soup Base)

The USB is actually just 3 things: onions, tomatoes, and tomato paste. What is unique about this combination is that if cooked in the right order, this produces a rich, multilayered flavor base for many different soups. This is the base for many of the broth-based soups my family enjoys, such as Chicken Tortilla, Chicken Black Bean, and Tuscan Italian Sausage soups.

Once the USB is cooked, you can add the rest of your soup ingredients, add some bread and maybe a raw veggie tray for side dishes, and you have a very satisfying, and healthy, meal. We usually do a soup/bread night at least once a week or so, and I always make at least a double batch to freeze for later meals.

Soup is probably one of the easiest and cheapest family meals to make, because almost anything can be thrown in to the pot and it will turn out great. Raw veggies than are getting limp, potatoes, that half cup of dried pasta, bits of meat someone didn’t eat, a steak someone gave you from a cookout (really!), the last bit of frozen veggies in the bag, etc. You get the point. Soup is a “use it all up” meal. And, as far as the soups that I have made goes, they all freeze well for another meal. Here is the USB recipe for a soup that will feed about 6-8 adults:

3 small or 2 large tomatoes (any kind), chopped (1.00 or less, or free if from a garden)
1 medium onion, chopped, but not too fine (0.25)
1 6oz can regular tomato paste (0.25)

In the soup pot, add 2 tsp vegetable oil and heat on medium high for a minute or two. Add onions and cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring constantly, until light golden. Add tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes until tomatoes being to break down. Create a hole in the center of the vegetables and add the tomato paste. Cook tomato paste, stirring constantly in the middle of the pot, for about a minute until it turns a rich brick color. Mix thoroughly, and your USB is done. You can then add broth or water with bullion cubes, vegetables, meat, and whatever else you need to use up. You can even make a triple or quadruple recipe of USB and freeze it in 1-pot portions for soups later. If you have a garden, your tomato cost will be zilch, and tomato paste is usually on sale for 4/1.00 somewhere. Onions can be grown (I have not been successful) or purchased on sale.

The USB goes really well with one of my family’s favorite soups:

Chicken Black Bean Soup (can also be vegetarian; just omit meat and use vegetable broth)
1 recipe USB (1-1.50)
3 ½ Cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water with 4 large bullion cubes (.50)
4 cans black beans (puree 3 cans in a blender before adding (2.40, or much less if you make your own from dried beans)
1 can chopped mild green chilies (.50)
1-2 Tbs cumin, to taste (pennies)
dash cayenne pepper, to taste (basically free)
1-2 Cups of leftover chicken, steak, or ham (.50)
Salt and pepper to taste, and depending on whether you used bullion cubes

Toppings: (we usually have tortilla chips and cheese)
tortilla chips
cheddar cheese
sour cream
green onion or cilantro

This soup freezes amazingly well, and actually tastes better a day or two after making it. I usually make the black beans from dried because it is so cheap (about 1.00 for 10 cups or so of beans). If you want to cook your own beans try this:

1lb dried black or pinto beans
one onion, chopped
one hot pepper, chopped and seeded (use gloves, especially if you wear contact lenses!) (ancho, jalapeno, Serrano, etc.) if handy, but not necessary

Sort beans for debris and rinse. Cover beans with water and let soak for at least 8 hours. Pour off water and add beans and hot pepper, if using, to a large crock pot. Add chopped onion, and add water to cover. Cook on low about 12 hours and check for bean tenderness. If not tender cook for another 2 hours and check again. I soak the beans overnight, get them in the crock pot at about 7am, and cook until 7 pm. I do not cook the beans the same day I need to eat them. When the beans are done, I let them cool off for a while and then refrigerate them overnight. Then I puree most of them. The puree can be made into bean dip, soups, fake “refried” black beans, bean spread for pita sandwiches, enchilada/burrito filling, and ad infinitum. Bean puree is really versatile.

If beans make you, ahem, uncomfortable, just try having a couple of bean meals a week at first. Your body adjusts and the health and financial savings of being a bean-eater will far outweigh the initial getting used-to period. Give homage to the humble bean, for it has nourished the masses and will continue to do so!