Slow Simmered Vegetable Soup

As we get deeper into the summer months I have been craving all the vegetables. Greens, beans and everything in between has been on our menu. Sometimes I like to just eat them raw with ranch or hummus, but other times, I like to make a meal out of my veggies like in this delicious and nutritious vegetable soup.

I have also been on a huge soup kick so I decided to take all the vegetables I love and make them into a soup. And what a fantastic soup it is! Not only does my Slow-Simmered Summer Vegetable Soup provide a ton of nutrition, but it also makes plenty for leftovers. I ate this for a week straight for lunch.

It does take a little longer to cook than most of my recipes because you really need to let it simmer long enough to meld all the delicious vegetable flavors together. I promise it’s worth the effort.

This recipe works for diets like low-carb, and if you sub the chicken broth with vegetable broth it will be a vegetarian’s dream come true. This is also the perfect recipe for those of you that like to meal-prep on Sundays since it makes so many meals. Cook once, eat twice…or two or three times Slow-Simmered Vegetable Soup

Servings: 6-10 Ingredients:

48 oz. of chicken broth 2 Tbs. of olive oil 1 large onion 3 zucchini 2 yellow squash 3 large carrots, sliced 1 medium head of broccoli, chopped 2 cups of green beans, chopped 1.5 cans of Cannelloni Beans, drained 1 can of of chopped tomatoes 1 bag of frozen peas 3 bay leaves 2 tsp. of garlic salt 2 tsp. of onion powder 1.5 tsp. of oregano .5 tsp. of celery salt a handful of basil Optional: Parmesan or mozzarella cheese 

Steps:

1. Add olive oil to a large pot or Dutch Oven and heat through.

2. Add onions and cook until they are translucent. Then add the carrots and cook about about two minutes.

3. Add the chicken broth and the rest of your vegetables.

4. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and add your spices.

5. Cook on medium for 30 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally.

6. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook for 2 – 4 hours. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sitting on the bottom and burning. I ended up cooking mine on low for 6 just because we didn’t eat until 6 p.m. and I started making this in the morning. You want the vegetables to all soften and add their flavors to the broth.

7. Serve and add basil and cheese. Photos here

bon appetit