Full of Goodness Soup

 Winter vegetable soup for the soul

A friend requested I post a vegetarian/vegan soup recipe.   I’ve never followed one so this is a kind of non-recipe recipe.  All you need are a variety of vegetables and patience for chopping. Because literally you just chop & toss everything into a pot.  This soup is chock full of nutrients & tons of flavor.  Because vegetable soup can lean towards being more bland than other kinds, you can play with your spices. Add 21 vegetable spice mix, pepper, sea salt and Herbs de Provence.  Of course ***bay leaves  are a necessary addition while cooking.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
4 cups of vegetables, roughly chopped.  Use a mix of spinach, kale, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, yam, sweet potato, parsley, etc.
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic,  chopped
2 Tbsp coconut oil or *ghee (Note: if using ghee, the recipe is no longer vegetarian/vegan)
**4-6 cups vegetable broth (I made mine from scratch but you can use better than bouillon.
Or; water to cover
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon juice
Spices

When serving add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil & sprig of parsley to garnish

Directions
1. Heat coconut oil or *ghee in large pot or a Dutch oven.
2. Add onions and garlic, stirring until fragrant, then add vegetables and stir for a minute or two longer.
3. Add broth or enough water to cover the vegetables. Let simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender and puree in a high speed blender (or with a hand blender) until smooth.
4. Season as desired and serve with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive oil and some sea salt (Maldon is a good choice).

*Ghee is a type of clarified butter that’s made from heating butter and allowing the liquid and milk portion to separate from the fat. The milk caramelizes and becomes a solid, and the remaining oil is ghee.  Ghee has a long-standing reputation as one of the healthiest cooking fats available.  You can buy it at many grocery health-food stores like Whole Foods.

This ingredient has been used in Indian and Pakistani cultures for thousands of years. When used in place of butter, ghee has several benefits.   Ghee is rich in conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, a fatty acid known to be protective against carcinogens, artery plaque and diabetes.  So it is known.

**Homemade Veggie Stock: I’ve been freezing ends and skins of vegetables like carrots, onions and herbs like parsley, cilantro, etc. to use for making stock.  I wash everything before freezing then place them in a pot & heat with covered water.  It offers more flavor rather than using plain water.  Of course you must discard the vegetables and use only the stock when making veggie soup.

***Nutrient Packed Bay leaves offer us a healthy dose of vitamins A, C, magnesium, calcium, manganese, potassium, and iron. Bay leaves apparently help to soothe body aches. You can add 4-5 bay leaves in 1 litre of water and add to bathwater to relieve sore muscles and rejuvenate the body. Supposed to ease joint pain from arthritis.  Try it!

Hope you enjoy it.  Let me know how it turned out. xo