This soup is packed with a lot of vegetables, and the sweet potato makes it lusciously sweet for the kids.
This was our Halloween brew, served up tonight to friends and neighbors before, during, and after trick-or-treating. I kept the pot hot and ready, along with a loaf of challah and some good butter. Traditionally I serve this to my kids and their friends as a way of infusing their bodies with mega-nutrients prior to trick or treating. This accomplishes three things: 1. They take in some vitamins in addition to all of the candy that they will later eat. 2. They’re full of the good stuff so that they’re not as hungry for so much candy. 3. It gives me the illusion of having some control over their diet on Halloween.
Plus this is such a fun pre- trick or treat activity! Print out the top half of the following recipe for them to refer to as they eat. Ask them to try and identify all of the ingredients while they are eating. (The “real” recipe follows.) Next year, invite the neighborhood kids in.
Witches Brew Soup
- 3 cups fresh goblin toes, chunked
- 1 cup diced hippo spleen
- 1/2 cup lightly shredded eel skin
- 2 cups abdomen of preying mantis, cut in half
- 1 cup arachnid bodies
- 1 cup frog kidneys (canned or fresh)
- 2 cups irises of owl eyes
- 1 cup frozen or canned devils teeth
- 1 cup packed creeping violet leaves
- 1/2 cup tortoise knee caps
- 3/4 cup dragon’s dandruff
- salt and garlic to taste
Saute eel skin in a little extra virgin olive oil. Add all of the ingredients in a big cauldron. Fill cauldron with enough fresh mountain river water (be sure it’s clean) to just cover. Boil for 3 hours. Serve hot. Enjoy!
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Witches Brew Soup (serves 8-10)
- 1 large sweet potato, chunked
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cups fresh green beans, cut in half
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can kidney beans
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 c. frozen corn, or one can
- 1 c. packed kale, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 1 c. sliced cabbage
- 1/2 c. brown rice
- 1/4 c. chopped parsley
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion in a little extra virgin olive oil. Add all of the ingredients in a big pot. Fill cauldron with enough water to just cover. Bring to boil, then simmer for 2 or 3 hours. After the vegetables are soft, use the back of a large spoon to smash some of the sweet potato chunks against the inside of the pot. This will thicken and sweeten the broth.
copyright 2010 Dori Gordon Walker
The Plate is My Canvas 
Putting this together now to cook and have for dinner tomorrow night. Thanks!
Aren’t you happy that it’s soup season again?!
Hi, Dori.
How many people does this feed? Thanks. Diane
This probably can serve 10 or maybe more. It makes a pretty full pot of soup.
I’m making this soup for a party on Sunday. When I made it a few weeks ago it was for dinner the next evening. Reheating it I also added some smoked sliced turkey sausage and about a handful of penne rigate pasta. Oh – and it was extra spicy because I cooked with one diced Hungarian hot wax pepper.
That sounds delicious, Carole!
Soup was huge hit! Maybe 2-3 cups left. Since this was primarily a vegetarian group I did not add any meat or cheese. I do like the addition of the pasta. I don’t remember cabbage in your original recipe … did I Miss that?
Carole,
I edited the recipe tonight, after making it with a little cabbage. I liked it that way, but most of the vegies are optional and can be substituted. Some to watch out for are broccoli or cauliflower, which can be fairly strong (although I had a tiny bit of broccoli in tonight’s batch since it was chopped up, leftover from something I made yesterday). It’s like making a painting in the pot. You look at it, see what’s missing, think about what you might like to add, and improvise a little, have some fun creating.