Soup du Jour at my house today

It's cold and blustery with window rattling wind today.  Perfect for hot soup.  Here's my improvised pot - sorry, I didn't do the nutritional analysis, but it has to be really low cal.

2 cups of chopped vegetables - carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, garlic
4 cups homemade, very low salt chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzos), drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons pastina
1 bay leaf
pinch of thyme and sage
pinch of crushed red pepper
grinding of black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

threw it all in a pot, brought it up to a boil and then turned down the heat and simmered for about an hour. 

Result - really flavorful, spicy soup.  I've already had one cup and am about to go back for more!

What soup can you improvise from what you have on hand?

My soup du jour, or zuppa del giorno since it's Italian, is Stracciatella.  It's my  new favourite thing; fills me up, tastes great, and is low in calories.  It's very simple:

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

1 egg

1 tbsp grated asiago cheese, or fresh grated parmesan

1 tbsp chopped parsley

pinch of black pepper

Beat the egg in a bowl with the cheese and parsley.  Bring the stock to a boil, then slowly pour the egg misture into the pot whisking as you do.  The egg will cook almost instantly into little thin strands.  Add pepper to taste.

It's ready in less than two minutes too, so it's great when I'm too busy to cook a meal!  I serve it with some Kashi TLC whole grain crackers, and some raw baby carrots on the side, and the whole meal comes in at 278 calories.  The soup on it's own is 153 calories.  It also works just as well using only egg whites, in fact that is the traditional way of making it, but I like the whole egg better. 

I love that soup!  My grandmother used to serve it with a thin crepe, sprinkled with grated locatelli cheese and rolled up, in the bottom of each soup plate.

Well I had to go buy some split peas and barley but everything else I had on hand to make this soup yesterday.  It definitely needed some salt and pepper added to the bowl, but was fantastic with that, and some crushed up saltines.

I love soup on chilly days.