Tasty Dystopian Glop for Dinner: Wife Soup

Cold, depressing winter days call for soup. If you're feeling low because we've seen the sun for approximately 30 minutes in the last 3 months here in Michigan, might I suggest something inspired by the always-low-key-depressed crew of the Serenity? 

For any of you that aren't nerds, Serenity is the name of the spaceship in Firefly, our favorite "cancelled so far ahead of its time that it inspired a nerd uprising that got a movie made" sci-fi show. The crew does crime to survive, and their perpetual poverty is sometimes referred to via the apparently horrible food they have to eat. The only bright spot in this gastronomic wasteland is something referred to as "wife soup," as Zoe will make this for her husband Wash when he's been especially good. I found a recipe inspired by this in one of our Christmas cookbook acquisitions, "The Geeky Chef Cookbook." If you're a fan of - well, anything - you'll find a recipe here, from Zelda to Doctor Who, The Wheel of Time to Breaking Bad. 

I will say this about Wife Soup: if I was on a beat-up spacecraft at the farthest reaches of known space, half-starving and on the run from the authorities, I'd find this pretty comforting. If I was in my dreary Michigan kitchen looking at random produce in my refrigerator, I'd find it pretty inspiring. Regardless of location, I'd find it to be weird-looking; it's seriously green and very thick, just the sort of dystopian glop that fits my current mood. So, so tasty though. There's a big kick of black pepper that warms you right up, and you can feel virtuous as hell for eating something that's so full of vegetables. 

Adapted slightly from "The Geeky Chef Cookbook" by Cassandra Reeder, The Geeky Chef, whose ingenuity and sheer range of fandoms I absolutely admire. Please buy this for the nerds in your life.  

Wife Soup 

2 Tbsp olive oil or butter 
1 large onion, chipped 
1 tsp salt 
2 ribs celery, ideally with the leaves 
1 tsp black pepper 
2 cloves minced garlic 
2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped 
1 cup split peas (I used split lentils because that's what I had) 
4 cups (or more - much more) chicken or vegetable stock 
2 cups broccoli florets
2 zucchini, chopped 
5 fresh basil leaves (or 2 tsp dried, if your fresh basil got nasty in the fridge) 
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder 
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat the olive oil or butter in a large saucepan, then add the onion and salt and saute until it begins to turn transculent. Add the celery and black pepper and cook another 5- minute. Add the garlic when the celery starts to soften. 

Add the potatoes, split peas (or lentils), and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer about 45 minutes - 1 hour, until the potatoes and peas (or lentils) are soft.

Stir in the broccoli and zucchini. Simmer until the broccoli is tender; add more stock or water if needed. Stir in the spinach, basil, onion powder, and garlic powder. 

Puree in a blender (your immersion blender probably can't handle this). Stir in the lemon juice (if you remember it), maybe add a pinch of cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.