Basic Hearty Vegetable Soup

When I post my veggie soup for my lunches, this is the recipe I use. It freezes up really well and tastes great.


Basic Hearty Vegetable Soup

1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1-1/2 lbs onion (3 medium), coursely chopped
4 large stalks celery, sliced
2 large cloves garlic
1 lb green cabbage (1/2 sm. head), thinly sliced
3/4 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
1-1/4 lbs. zucchini (3 medium), liced in half lenthwise, then sliced into half-moons
2 cans (28 oz) whole tomatoes in juice
1 can (48-49 oz) chicken broth (6 cups)
6 cups water
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 bags (8-9 oz) baby spinach leaves (which I forgot to add when I made my batch)

Combine carrots, onions, & celery into 12-qt stock pot with Chicken stock. Using a garlic press, crush garlic into stockpot. Bring to a simmer and cook 8 minutes or until vegtables begin to soften, stirring occasionally.

When carrots are tender crisp, add tomatoes with the liquid to the stockpot. Using a spoon, break the tomatoes.

Add sliced cabbage, green beans, zucchini, spinach, water, 1 teaspoon salt, & 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste).

Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until vegtables are tender.

Cool soup slightly. Ladle out portions into two cup servings. Save a couple days worth out if you would like and freeze the remaining servings.

Each cup is about 45 calories, 2 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 410mg sodium.

NOTE: I used the frozen bags of carrots & green beans this time around as it was quicker and I also added some italian seasoning since I was not going to use the variations to the recipe that was listed in the magazine article where I based my recipe on.

Yielded approx. 20 cups (without adding the spinach)
Enjoy!
Lisa