Spring Vegetable Soup
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This Warm veggie soup is a great way to add more vegetables to your diet without a lot of calories.
Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: American
Serves: 12 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery finely chopped
  • 2 carrots or more if you like lots like I do -- roughly chopped the size you like
  • 2 TBPS olive oil
  • 6 cups of Chicken Broth
  • 3 cups of Beef Broth
  • (You can use Chicken & Beef soup starters or bullion if you don't have broth)
  • 2 TBSP of Tomato Paste -- I like the kind in the tube you can keep in the fridge
  • 1 or 2 Bay leaves depending on size
  • Fresh Herbs -- tie them up or use a herb infuser. I like Thyme, Oregano or Marjoram, and chives. If you use dried herbs but just a pinch they are much stronger than fresh
Instructions
  1. Add oil to a 4 to 8 quart soup/stock pot. On medium heat add your veggies and soften -- 5 to 10 minutes -- it's ok to brown them some if you like deepens the flavors.
  2. Add broth, tomato paste and herbs to your sauteed vegetables.
  3. This is the step where your soup may get larger than planned -- my dad used to say to my mom, "Why did you make that soup so big?" and she would just say it got out of control. When my dad retired he would make soup and my mom would ask the same question in a sarcastic way -- and he would say " Because I wanted to." Oh, that made her mad.
  4. Add hardy vegetables and those that might need longer to cook at this point. This is a sample list of those you might like to include:
  5. Potatoes
  6. More carrots
  7. Parsnips
  8. Rutabagas
  9. Tomato
  10. Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are fork tender
  11. Add more delicate vegetables at the end. This is where it is a little trickier to figure out when to add them. If using fresh veggies I would put them in the soup so that they cook completely per a recommended cooking time - Example: Fresh green beans take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook. This will depend on how you like your veggies crisp or very soft.
  12. If you are using frozen veggies -- which I do a lot -- I use the steam in bag ones and cook them ½ of the recommended time -- drain any water on them and then just heat the soup until everything is nice an warm. This will keep your veggies from breaking down too much.
Recipe by Farm Girl Cook'n at https://farmgirlcookn.com/week-1-iowa-food-family-project-and-live-healthy-iowa-10-week-wellness-challenge/