Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 2 hours | serves 10
Vegetable soup is a healthy and tasty dish that is simple to prepare. It’s a terrific way to use up vegetables that are on the verge of going bad, as well as a quick option to obtain a range of vitamins and minerals in one dish. Vegetable soup is a low-calorie and low-fat alternative that may be tailored to fit dietary requirements and personal preferences. Making a big quantity of soup might also leave you with leftovers for simple, fast dinners all week.
What you will need
Vegetables and beans: You will need two types of beans for this recipe, I like to use black beans and kidney beans. This makes the dish hearty and flavorful! I selected to use yellow peppers, red peppers, carrots and kale. You are more than welcome to customize this recipe to your liking. If you want to add more vegetables such as celery, zucchini or green peppers that would be a great addition.
Step 1: PREP YOUR VEGETABLES
Make sure you have a sizable area to chop your vegetables. You will need a chopping board and a sharp knife, a dull knife is always more dangerous than a sharp one. You want to make sure you are chopping all your vegetables the same size, reason being you want all of the vegetables to cook evenly.
You will thoroughly wash your kale and let dry completely, this will take a little while so place to the side until dry. Take your peppers, carrots and onion, chop into ½ -1 inch cubes and place to the side. Take your garlic cloves and finely chop. Once your kale has dried, you will start to remove the leaves from the stem. Take the kale leaves and chop.
Step 2: LET’S GET STARTED
On high heat in a stock pot (5 qts.) add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, drop in your chopped onions and let sweat for about 1 ½ minutes. Now incorporate your chopped carrots and peppers, let cook for an additional 5 minutes, occasionally stirring making sure the vegetables are not burning. If they begin to burn, lower your heat. Then you want to add your finely chopped garlic and let the garlic brown NOT burn – this should take a minute or two.
It is now time to add your spices, I added salt, pepper and oregano to this dish. You can also add some spice by using paprika, chili powder, cummin or crushed red pepper.
Now add your canned beans to your pot. I used low-sodium beans in this dish, because I like to regulate how salty I want my soup to be. Drain only one can of beans and add the rest as is. You then want to add your tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. If you think your soup is a little thick, add some water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and let simmer. Cover your pot.
Let simmer for 15 minutes and then you want to add your chopped kale, the kale will not immediately incorporate, let the kale cook down and cover your pot.
Make sure to babysit your soup by occasionally stirring every 20 minutes or so. This will prevent the bottom from getting burnt. You can also cook this soup in a crockpot, which is great if you don’t have the time to cook throughout the day.
At the one hour mark I like to take a taste of the soup broth to see if it needs anything, sometimes it needs a dash of salt or pepper to taste.
Ingredients
1 can of black beans, low-sodium
2 cans of red kidney beans, low-sodium
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small onion
1 large red pepper
1 large yellow pepper
4 large carrots
Half a bundle of kale
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 teaspoons of oregano
Olive oil
