When Rhubarb Failed, Soup Surgeon Jenn Delivered

Before we even talk about soup, we need to address the elephant in the breakroom. Marketing Mike is fine. I repeat: Marketing Mike is A-OK. There was a brief period of concern after last week’s legendary debut. Turns out it was just a tweaked back muscle combined with emotional damage from watching his daughter drive to California. Add those together and you get a temporary Brian Wilson phase. He’s back. He’s upright. He’s functional. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Now back to regularly scheduled soup stuff…By this point, everyone knows that this Tuesday is Andy’s soup day, and I know for a fact he is dangerously excited about it. After that, I’m up on February 3rd, which also happens to be the day after we find out whether Michigan gets an early spring or six more weeks of soul-crushing cold.

This past weekend was supposed to be an experiment weekend for me. Soup block had officially lifted. I had something special lined up. Something bold. Something unique. Something involving rhubarb. And then reality hit. Apparently, rhubarb is a “summer vegetable.” Which means it exists only in theory right now. So just like that, soup block came roaring back like it never left. Awesome.

Enter Soup Surgeon Jenn, once again stepping in to save the day. She came armed with a plan, and that plan was a ridiculously healthy and delicious minestrone.

Friday was a soup-free zone. We took a tactical break. Tacos in Muskegon, fajitas for dinner at the wildly famous El Rancho in Ludington. Saturday, however, was all soup. Jenn was deep in Google mode, typing furiously into her phone like she was prepping for a culinary exam. Then it was off to Meijer.

My role this time was familiar. I was the Soup Consigliere. I nodded. I approved. I chopped. I mostly stayed out of the way.

The cart filled up fast, and it was aggressively WFPB. Highlights included dandelion greens and collard greens, which is how you know things were getting serious. If you read the recipe on the Partner’s Page, you’ll see this thing is a legit creation.

One key move that deserves special recognition was roasting the tomatoes, garlic, and especially the potatoes. And here’s the big brain move: the potatoes went into the soup at the very end. Absolute genius. This should now be the rule for potatoes in soup forever.

So what do you do when you have a massive pot of minestrone? You invite people over. The Ludington crew came through. Nick, Alison, Charlie Daniels, and Julie. Highlights from the evening included discovering that Nick is now good at two things: drinking Budweiser and grating hard cheese. Growth man! We also learned that Alison, who claims to not like soup, does in fact like healthy green leafy things. Interesting. She also apparently has the only cutting-edge stalking app in existence. We didn’t ask follow-up questions.

Julie did not officially rank the minestrone, but she did declare a rock-solid 10.0 for the sauerkraut soup from a month ago. I respect the long-term evaluation approach. Unlike Kevin, who is physically incapable of not blurting out an “8.2” after two chews.

As for scores, I came in at an 8.6, then bumped it to 8.9 with hot sauce and grated cheese. Charlie landed at a confident 9.0. I’m thinking Jenn was a 10.0 of course!

Now here’s where I’m at mentally. I really need to hunker down and deliver something strong for next weekend. Right now, I’m thinking it’s time to get back to basics. Simple soup. Fewer risks. Rebuild confidence. Maybe it was the lack of rhubarb. Maybe it was that 5.0 from the yuca soup still haunting me. Either way, the vibe is off. Time to reset. Back to basics. Soup redemption arc loading. Stay tuned.