I know I promised you this recipe a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been so busy I just haven’t been able to get to it.
This soup is my go-to vegetable soup recipe. I usually make a big pot of this on Mondays in the winter. It only takes about 45 minutes start to finish, and most of that is simmer time. Packed with vitamins, it’s a really “clean” soup. And the leftovers are great for mid-week snacks.
I found the original recipe at Life’s Ambrosia, and while I sometimes make a few changes, they’re so small that I figured it would be easiest to post the original recipe and just list my changes.
Rather than using vegetable broth, I use ten cups of water and eight teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon vegetable paste. Sometimes I’ll use sweet potato rather than white potato, just to boost the nutritional content, and I’ll often throw in extra vegetables if I have them in the fridge. At the same time, if you’re out of something (I don’t always have mushrooms), it’s no big deal to leave out one or two ingredients in favor of others. Ditto the chick-peas. If you prefer another kind of bean (or even more than one variety), feel free to throw it in there! I like to add some crushed red pepper for a little bite, too. The recipe says it serves four, but in my experience, ten cups of water/broth yields about six main course servings with some leftover.
Anyway, here is the original recipe from Life’s Ambrosia. And you should totally check out the site. They have lots of great recipes!
You will need:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks, diced (white parts only)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 celery stalks, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 russet potatoes, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 5 – 10 crimini mushrooms, quartered
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 rosemary stems, chopped
- 3 sage leaves, chopped
- 1 (15 ounce can) garbanzo beans, drained
- 2 cups baby spinach
- kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in leeks and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in celery, carrots, potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms. Cook 5 more minutes.
- Pour in vegetable broth. Add rosemary and sage. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes or until veggies are softened. Stir in garbanzo beans. Cook 5 more minutes until beans are warmed through. Stir in spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot.