vegetable soup tutorial

 red bell pepper, black beans, rutabaga, buckwheat and cilantro

veggie soup is great in my opinion because you can throw in whatever you have, add some spices, let it simmer and voila - you've got dinner and maybe even enough leftover for lunch the next day. plus i feel soup is fairly easy to make and so comforting on chilly days.

sure, it's great to follow tried and true soup recipes, but here is a simple basic soup guide i play with when i have some veggies to work with.  (i'm no expert but this method for soup making works for me!)

(makes 6-8 servings)

1 - gather and chop ingredients.

2 - prepare 6 cups veg broth by heating 6 cups filtered water with 2 vegetable bouillon cubes. the boxes/cans of vegetable stock work but i find its cheaper to use the cubes. i usually make the broth in the same pot i will  use for the soup. when the cubes dissolve, i pour the hot broth in a glass container and set aside for the next step.

3 - heat 1-2 tablespoon butter (i like earth balance) or olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

add onions or garlic if you'd like and the tougher veggies:

rutabaga

turnip

potato

carrot

parsnip

celery

fennel

yam

beet

let them cook for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.

carrot, fennel, green onions

4 - add the 6 cups of veggie broth and anywhere from a 1/4 to 1 cup of grains/seeds (you could use one of the following or any other grain you like - i used lentil below):

buckwheat

lentil

barley

millet

brown/wild rice

quinoa

5 - add a few pinches of seasonings and bring the broth to a boil. sometimes i will throw in a bay leaf. this soup has smoked paprika, cumin, a very small pinch of nutmeg and turmeric.

6 - cover the pot, lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer about 25 minutes (15 minutes if you pre-soaked the grain).

7 - when there is about 5 minutes left add the soft or frozen veggies:

corn

peas

cooked beans (chick peas are my fave)

mushrooms

broccoli

bell pepper

carefully taste the soup (it's HOT!) and add more seasonings if needed.

cover and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

serve to your family and enjoy the yummy sounds they make!

=)

*of course there are a lot more veggies and grains to work with for veggie soups, i just listed the ones i could think of.  i'd gladly appreciate any more ideas! =)