Dill Pickle Soup

If you have ever tried to make your own dill pickles, you know the worst problem is a soft, mushy pickle. It's not difficult to get good flavor into your dill pickles, but it is freaking impossible to have them turn out crunchy! (Not so with bread and butter pickles.)

If you have jars of mushy dill pickles sitting around, here is a great recipe which will use them up in a way that maintains their excellent flavor but masks their unappealing texture!

I threw a whole bunch of different veggies into this soup in order to clean out the fridge. Due to the snowstorm, we skipped our shopping trip to Aldi and Walmart. I've used up almost all the fresh produce now. Our refrigerator is the most empty I have seen it in years!

The flavor of this soup is a tiny bit bland, until you add the dill pickles. Once those go in, you get a sharp, acidic bite of flavor in every spoonful. I added pulled venison to my soup, but if you prefer a vegetarian version, just use vegetable broth and skip the meat. If you don't have venison on hand, you can add shredded turkey, chicken, lamb, sausages, meatballs, or leftover pot roast. Anything that tastes good with pickles will work!

Ingredients:

1-2 TB melted ghee or butter (or coconut oil)
1 sweet onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup sliced carrots (I used rainbow carrots.)
1 TB ground turmeric
1 teas. ground black pepper
1-2 teas. sea salt
1-2 quarts beef stock (or any other type of stock or water)
5-6 small potatoes sliced in half
1 cup chopped collard greens
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cups chopped dill pickles
2 cups shredded venison rump roast (any shredded meat)
Tabasco sauce, to taste (optional)
Sour cream (to serve)

Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onions. Cook for a minute or two. Add garlic, celery and carrots. Stir and cook a couple more minutes. Add spices and salt. Stir and allow spices to toast. Add stock and potatoes. Cover pot and cook about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add greens. Cook for at least 5-10 more minutes. Use hand held blender to puree soup. (Leave some chunks, if you like.) Add pickles, meat, and Tabasco. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. Makes at least 4 large servings.