Garden Vegetable Soup Recipe

It's that time during the weekend where I sit down and organize a menu plan for the coming week. (Remember when I use to post them?) I've been spending my Mondays cooking all day to give myself a head start to busy school nights. Really, I'm just preparing a few things for breakfasts, lunches and prepping dinners. It makes for less stress in the kitchen during the week! 

 I'm a big soup person and an even bigger fresh vegetable person, so summer time veggie season is what I wait for all year. Even though it's hot outside (like 100+) I'll still have soup almost everyday for lunch and this recipe makes a lot of soup ~ like 14 - 1 cup servings.(I have share with Peter :)) 

Garden Vegetable Soup  

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced 

1 zucchini, diced

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 pkg. mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 cup roasted corn or about 1/2 a can of can

1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed

1 can Kidney beans, rinsed

1 can roasted diced rosemary & oregano tomatoes, juice reserved 

1 cup cooked barley

2 32oz containers Vegetable Broth 

1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning 

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. rosemary

1/4 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. dried parsley 

salt & pepper (optional) 

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, drizzle a little olive oil into pot and add onion, celery and mushrooms. On medium-low heat, stir vegetables until they soften, about 4 or 5 minutes. You don't want the veggies to brown, just soften a little. 

2. add the zucchini, carrots, corn, tomatoes and juice, beans, vegetable broth and all the spices (basically everything, except for the barley, peas and green beans) 

3. bring soup to a very gentle simmer, and stir every 5 to 10 minutes or so. Let cook for about 25 minutes

4. When the vegetables are cooked through, add the cooked barley, peas and green beans and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  

~ 

You can always add more or less spices if you like or substitute chicken broth for veggie broth, or even add in some shredded cooked turkey/chicken. This is such an simple soup recipe and it's easy to adapt it to your own tastes! I haven't tried yet to freeze any portion of it, honestly we always end up eating it all throughout the week so there's never been a reason to freeze any. I assume it will freeze well, but I can't be positive. 

Now time to get back to that menu plan! xo~ Tara