'Sup, Soup.

You know the drill—it's 9pm on a Sunday night in early February, and you have a packed house of very-inebriated sports fans. You already lost your office pool by halftime, and someone just grabbed the last buffalo wing that you were eyeing. And of course, NO ONE ate any of the vegetables from the party tray that you bought. What's a guy to do? Why, SOUP IT UP, of course! It's time to take that garden garbage and make it into a (super) bowl of soup. It's fast, it's incredibly easy, and it'll taste better than watching Gary in Accounting gloat over his second-overtime victory on Monday morning.

Vegetable Tray Soup

Ingredients

• 1 leftover vegetable party tray
• 3-4 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes
• 2 large onions, diced
• 6-8 tbsp. of flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 8-10 cups water
• 6-8 pats of butter
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Begin by dicing, slicing, and cutting the vegetable tray items into small, bite-sized pieces.
2. In an 8-12 qt. pot, heat 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter on medium heat.
3. Add diced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add all diced vegetables, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add 8-10 cups of water (enough to cover all the vegetables), and 1 bouillon cube per 2 cups of water added. Bring to a boil.
6. After 5 minutes of boiling, reduce heat to a low simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue simmering for 30 minutes.
7. In a small saucepan, melt 3-4 pats of butter on medium-low heat.
8. Add 6-8 tbsp. of flour to the butter, and stir vigorously to make a rue (thick paste).
9. Gradually add 1 1/2 cup milk to the rue, stirring until there are no lumps.
10. Once the rue has combined to an even mixture, pour and stir into large soup pot. Simmer for an additional 30-45 minutes so the flavors can blend.