Vegetable Soup

You may be thinking to yourself it is spring why would they be writing up a recipe for Vegetable Soup?  Well here in Upper Michigan the calendar may be saying that it is spring but looking outside you would never know that.  We have many, many feet of snow on the ground and mother nature has decided that we don’t have enough and wants to add even more to it today.   This soup will also be perfect when all the fresh vegetables are growing in the garden and I can’t wait to be out there picking them to make this Vegetable Soup.

 

This soup is full of robust vegetables and you could use whatever vegetables you would like.   I found the recipe for the soup in a Taste of Home Cookbook – Guilt Free Cooking.  The original recipe is called Italian Vegetable Soup and I have decided to add a few other spices.   Basically Italian has now met African as I have used spices that would be used in an African dish ~ Ginger, Garlic, Anise and an African Spice called Kalé.   Black Pepper or Grains of Paradise can be substituted for Kalé.  

Vegetable Soup

A robust soup chock full of vegetables that is quick and easy to make.

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Ingredients

• 2 cans ( 14.5 ounces each) reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 cup beans chopped
• 2 medium sweet pepper (small), chopped
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger root, minced
• 1 tsp anise seed
• 1 tsp Kalé (substitute black pepper or Grains of Paradise)
• 1/2 cup cooked pasta
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced Red Gold petite tomatoes, undrained

Instructions

1. In large sauce pan, add broth, potato, carrots, onions, celery, beans, Italian seasoning, garlic, ginger, anise seed, Kalé.
2. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
3. Add pasta and tomatoes. Heat through.
4. Add sweet peppers and a few more sliced onions and remove from heat and let sit for a couple of minutes before serving.

Notes

• Instead of canned broth I used 4 cups of water with 2-3 bouillon cubes (chicken or vegetable).

I serve this soup with Garlic Cheese Biscuits, except I only made Garlic Biscuits as I left out the cheese and they were perfect.