I like few things better than a warm, home-cooked meal on a cold, rainy night.  But I don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen, especially this time of the year!  One of our family favorites is my sort-of homemade veggie soup.  It’s quick and easy, but delicious and healthy.

I start with some diced onion (sweet onions are my favorite, but any variety will do), celery and carrots.  Then I add in some chicken broth, a protein, an additional liquid flavoring, more veggies, herbs and spices, and let it all simmer for an hour on the stove.  I cook everything in one big stock pot to minimize dish-washing.

The best part about this soup is that I use whatever we have on hand.  If I have zucchini, spinach, broccoli and cannellini beans, I go Italian and add in tomato sauce, oregano, basil and garlic.  I serve the Italian soup topped with fresh parmesan cheese.  If I’ve got snap peas, edamame, broccoli and cabbage, I give it an Asian flair and add ginger and soy sauce (and sometimes frozen potstickers from Trader Joe’s if I’ve got those on hand, too). This version is delicious served over fresh steamed rice.  Or if I’ve got corn, green beans and cauliflower, I’ll whip up a Mexican-inspired soup by adding pinto beans, jarred salsa or canned diced tomatoes, cumin and fresh cilantro.  This soup is great served with a dollop of sour cream, shredded jack or cheddar cheese, or fresh avocado.  Leftover chicken or steak can be diced or shredded up and tossed into any of these versions, too.  Creativity is key here.  So, all you need to begin is the basic recipe, as follows:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

3-4 stalks celery, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 cartons organic chicken broth (available at Trader Joe’s or Costco)

chopped fresh or frozen veggies

canned beans, frozen edamame, or leftover chicken (this is your protein)

fresh or dried herbs and spices, to taste

Heat olive oil in large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until tender.

Add chicken broth.

Add in your protein

Add additional liquid flavoring (canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, soy sauce)

Add fresh or dried herbs and spices

Bring to a boil

Once soup comes to a boil, stir thoroughly and then lower heat.  Simmer over low heat 40 minutes to one hour.

Here’s some photos of my most recent batch.  I used tomato sauce as my additional liquid flavor, broccoli, green beans and frozen peas as my veggies, and cannelini and kidney beans as my protein.  I added fresh basil and oregano for flavor, and topped with fresh parmesan for serving.  Yum!

Here are my starting veggies - onion, carrots, celery

These are my veggies and beans

And here's what it looks like cooking in the pot