Healthy & Hearty Vegetable Soup

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Another year has come and gone, they seem to go by faster as you get older. It’s been a long cold and rainy several days here in the South. Everyone is stuffed and still a little sick after the holidays. 

As the temperatures are dropping out side today I decided to make a hearty and healthy soup that will warm the soul, but leave you feeling satisfied.

 I remember my Mom making vegetable soup for me as a kid and having a bowl of this today transported back to my childhood.

Choice of Ingredients

I am fortunate to live in the south and my local Publix Grocery store still has a bountiful supply of great looking fresh vegetables.

If you simply can’t find the fresh vegetables this time of year, you can certainly use frozen vegetables in this recipe, but if you have the option use the fresh it will payoff in taste.

I used Organic chicken stock that I buy in bulk from Costco, so I always have it on hand. I like the flavor that it imparts. Vegetable stock would be equally great and make the vegan, or you could simply use water.

Prepping the Vegetables

I’m usually a chop and add kind of a cook, today however I was measuring everything for the recipe, so I did all of the vegetable prep at one time. The recipe was written from a chop and go but I think prepping all of the veggies in advance was worth the effort.

Dice the onion, peel and chop the carrots. Chop celery and then peel and chop the potatoes. I then trimmed the ends the green beans and cut them in half and chopped the tomatoes. Last I removed the corn from the cob and minced the garlic. Boom done with the prep.

Let’s Get Cooking

From this point on it gets easier, having done all of the vegetable prep up front it’s a snap from here on in.

Start with the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. To the olive oil add the onions carrots and celery and sauté for a few minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Be sure to add in a healthy pinch of salt and pepper at this point to let the flavor begin to build.

Once the vegetables have begun to soften add in the garlic and let it go about another minute. Don’t let the garlic burn or the soup will have a bitter base. time to add the stock (broth) and water.

Add in all of the remaining vegetables and bring it to a boil. Reduce the the heat to a simmer and taste for seasoning. Add Salt and pepper to your taste. Remember that is a lot of vegetables so it can use a good health pinch of salt and pepper and add in the fresh thyme leaves.

Put the lid on it and let it simmer until the green beans and potatoes are tender, those take the longest. This took just a little over an hour but I let mine simmer for two hours to build the flavor in the broth. before you serve be sure to give it one last taste for salt and pepper.

Hope you enjoy this comforting soup as much as we did this weekend. My son loved it as well, but he has never met a vegetable that he didn’t like. Please leave comments if you make this for your family.

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Healthy & Hearty Vegetable Soup

On a cold crisp day there is nothing that makes you feel warmer inside than a great bowl of soup. This bowl of hearty and healthy fresh vegetable soup is full of flavor and easy to put together. It will leave you feeling warm and satisfied and give you a healthy new start to the weekend.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8 People

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• I Medium Onion Diced
• 4 Carrots (Chopped) Peeled
• 3 Celery Stalks (Chopped)
• 4 Cloves Garlic Minced
• 4 Cups Stock Chicken or Vegetable
• 2 Cups Water
• 4 Vine on Tomatoes (Chopped)
• 2 Ears of Sweet Corn Kernels removed
• 1 Cup Fresh English Peas
• 2 Cups Fresh Cut Green Beans
• 2 Medium Russet Potatoes Peeled and chopped
• Salt and Pepper To Taste
• 1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme Chopped

Instructions

1. Add 2 tablespoons of Olive oil to a large dutch oven over medium heat on the stove.
2. dice up the onion and add into the olive oil and sauté for a couple of minutes until the onion becomes translucent.
3. While the onion is cooking, peel and chop the carrots and chop the celery. Add the carrots and celery to the pot and continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Mince the garlic and add to the pot and cook for another minute. Do let the garlic burn at this point or the soup will have a bitter taste.
5. Add the Stock and water into the pot.
6. Peel and dice the potatoes into a half inch dice and add them to the pot. Next trim the ends off of the green beans cut in half and add them to the pot as well. I do these two first as they take the longest to cook.
7. Chop the tomatoes and remove the corn kernels from the cob and add them to the pot as well. Then dump in the pease.
8. Remove the thyme leaves from about five sprigs and give them a rough chop and add to the pot as well. bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Taste for salt and pepper to you liking. I added about a tsp of salt and a tsp and a half of pepper. I really like the peppery bite that it brings to the broth.
9. Put the lid on and simmer until the potatoes and beans are tender. this only takes a little over an hour, but I let mine simmer for two hours to get the broth to pick up all of the vegetable goodness.

Recipe Notes

You can certainly add frozen vegetables for any of the fresh ones that I used, but for the best taste use fresh if you can get them.