Returning to a new favorite

Emma's at her final performance, which should be starting right about now, and then the cast party. I came in to the office to finish up a few things and play trivia with Ana on irc because Ron and I were driving each other crazy at home :).



But then as soon as *I* got out of the house, he started running around town doing errands, so I made him run into Jason's Deli and get me some Vegetarian Vegetable.

It is just as good the second time-- even though the picture isn't. I didn't even bother to look at the few pictures I took before I inhaled the soup or I would have taken a better one, but I was feeling kinda puny and now I feel a lot better.

So there you go. It's a peppery little soup and I think now that the celery flavor comes from celery salt. I remember when I first started cooking it seemed like every recipe had celery salt in it, but I don't see it so much anymore.

The earlier (and prettier) review of this soup is here .

Oats, peas, beans and barley grow... but no oats in this soup.

What can I tell you about today's soup? It was an accidental choice.

Andy was going to go pick up lunch from Jason's Deli. Did they have a soup at Jason's Deli that's not too similar to soup I've had recently?

They actually have a few. They have Broccoli Cheese, but Brenda has been ranting about Panera's Broccoli Cheddar for years, so I'm saving that for the next time I go to Panera.

They have Tomato Basil, but everyone has Tomato Basil these days and I just had tomato soup yesterday. I will get to Tomato Basil eventually.

Their soup of the day was Potato. Potato soup is evile and definitely a weekend soup. Same with French Onion. I have had their French Onion at the office before-- too messy and complicated, not to mention salty.

So I settled on Vegetarian Vegetable, hoping the base wouldn't be a repeat of Bruegger's. And it wasn't. This soup was GOOD.

It's a tomato based soup, but it has a strong flavor of celery and pepper. I love celery flavor in soup. I believe that celery is a flavor enhancer-- like MSG-- it's always a pleasant addition.

My husband hates celery in anything. I have to stop him from throwing it out-- he doesn't even like seeing it in the refrigerator. I just don't get it.

The soup was also heavily peppered-- which I also love. Pepper perks up tomato based soups like nothing else. And this pepper tasted freshly ground-- although I can't believe it actually was.

The vegetables were rustically cut-- sugar snaps, peas and celery plus carrots and lentils. And there was pearl barley in there. It reminded me of a soup from my childhood, but I'm not sure what.

All I know is that I'm sitting here craving more-- and I've been eating soup every day for almost two weeks. It's good soup.

Websites around the world report that the soup is low calorie, low fat, medium carb (it had pasta in there too) and medium sodium. Unfortunately it is also low fiber and low protein when compared to other soups I have eaten recently.

It really hit the spot, so I'm going to give it 4 out of 4 spoons for comfort and satisfaction, and 3 out of 4 for nutrition. It's nutritious soup and probably provides some nutrients other soups are missing-- in the lentils and the barley :)-- but I missed the protein. It didn't keep me full as long as the higher protein soups.

So that's 7 out of 8 spoons. I paid $2.59 for this cup of soup.