Guest recipe: Poverty Soup

Judy and I have been brainstorming some excellent fall soup recipes, but in the meantime, the guest recipes keep rolling in! This one comes from my friend Randy who lives in Quebec- it gets pretty cold up in those northern regions and the Quebecois need all the soup they can get. This is actually a modification of a recipe I sent Randy years ago. He was finding it difficult to eat healthily on a small budget so I sent him a recipe for a VERY easy, VERY cheap veggie soup. He spiffs it up with chicken and/ or coconut milk. We like to call it "Poverty Soup" but even though it's low in cost, it's high in taste. Enjoy!

Poverty Soup

3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large white onion chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
a few celery stalks copped
3 potatoes chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin powder
1 Knox-brand vegetable-flavored bouillon cube
1 half-pound chicken breast "chopped!" (optional)
KEY INGREDIENT--Coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the carrots and oinions in a big saucepan with a little bit of olive oil until they're soft. Then add garlic, cumin, chili powder and potatoes. When the potatoes start to cook through, add the vegetable stock and bring everything to a boil, stirring often to avoid burning. Once boiling lower heat to simmer the soup for 30 to 35 minutes.

The soup can be served as is or mixed with creamy coconut milk. The milk will help bring down the spiciness and saltiness of the soup. I recommend only adding the milk at the serving stage. If you're going to store servings of the soup in the fridge or freezer, do so without the added coconut milk.