Harvest Vegetable Soup

One of my favourite things to do in the fall is start making hearty soups packed full of veggies. These are such a great way to nourish the body and warm up at the same time. I think of vegetable soups as a form of warm salad. Sometimes I even add spinach or kale in at the time of eating to make it even more like a salad!

Soups take time and they are not an “everyday cooking” thing. I like to make a big pot of soup every other weekend in the autumn and winter, and then pull containers out of the fridge or freezer for easy lunches and suppers as needed. IT takes time up front, but I am always SO thankful when I can grab one and know that I have a healthy meal already made.

I have found that my kids prefer when I puree them…I think they think of them as a warm smoothie that way. But my husband and I prefer the textured version. So I tend to puree half the batch and leave half the batch as is. Perhaps you can see what works best for your family!

Here is one of my favourite soups to make. The cool thing about soup is that you can use any soup recipe as a starting point and add more of what you love, less of what you don’t care for, and new additions that you think would taste good. Also, you can vary it based on what you have in your home. For example, after Thanksgiving or another type of holiday family meal, you could add in leftover turkey or roast beef for extra protein too!

Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

900 ml “no salt added” chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you prefer)

1 large clove garlic, chopped finely

1 medium onion, diced

5 carrots, peeled and diced

1 small (or ½ large) butternut squash, peeled and chopped

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

5 red potatoes, diced

2 peppers (red, orange or yellow), diced

2 medium apples, diced

½ tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. Original Mrs. Dash

1 cup green beans, cut into ½” pieces

1 cup broccoli, chopped finely

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed well

2 cups water

Instructions

1. Pour in 450 mL of the chicken broth into a large pot or Dutch oven. I like to use my large Le Crueset Pot.
2. Simmer the garlic and onion in the broth on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 450 mL of chicken broth, and then the carrots, squash, sweet potato, potatoes, apples, peppers, pepper, and Mrs. Dash. Let this all simmer for 1 hour on medium low heat.
4. Add water, beans and let simmer for another 30 minutes.
5. Add broccoli, peas, corn, and white beans and let simmer for an additional 30 minutes. The soup can be served at this point as is or blended; and can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days and the freezer for up to 6 months.

Until next time…stay healthy!