Simple Vegetable Soup

This past Friday, I took advantage of a rare afternoon off, and spent some time puttering around in the kitchen.  I’ve never really worked from a recipe for soup – I usually just throw whatever vegetables I have in the fridge into a pot, and it generally turns out alright.  But this time, I decided to pay a little more attention to what I was doing, and I’m so glad I did, because this particular pot of soup was amazing, if I do say so myself.  I’m looking forward to cooking this again!

Simple Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups kale
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup celery
• 1/2 cup carrots
• 3/4 cup green onions
• 1 purple onion
• 7 cloves garlic
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp basil
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 3/4 tbsp thyme
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1/2 tbsp marjoram
• 1/2 tbsp ground sage
• 1 tsp cilantro
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Chop all vegetables into small pieces and place in a large soup pot.
2. Add vegetable broth and water.
3. Sprinkle in spices, and stir.
4. Bring soup to a boil; then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes.
5. Serve as is, or add a bit of parmesan and parsley on top.

What I love about this recipe:

1. It’s very simple to make – approximately 30-40 minutes of prep time, and that’s it!
2. It’s a LOT of soup – which means leftovers for days!
3. It’s also the kind of dish you could prep the night before and leave to simmer in a crock pot for the day.

Notes:

This soup is also quite versatile – with just a few additions, you can create a variety of different meals throughout the week with the leftovers.  A few ideas:

1. Adding shredded chicken (plain, or baked with similar spices to those in the soup).
2. Adding different kinds of cheeses.
3. Straining the liquid from the soup and serving as a vegetable side dish with steak & garlic mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Image © 2017 Simple Felicity