Summer Vegetable Soup

I feel as though my body (and mind!) are completely confused by life at the moment. The past few weeks have flown by, my last day of work is tomorrow, and our movers come MONDAY. Ever since getting back from Seattle, I’ve had trouble sleeping and the quickly approaching major life changes are beginning to settle in. I woke up last night from a dream where I was on an interior decorating class and I was remodeling my “reading nook”. Seriously, self? Seriously?

I blame Pinterest for this. I think I need a break from Pinterest for a week or two…in the name of sleep.

With the early spring, summer has been a bit confused this year. The Midwest has quickly alternated between 90 degree days and mid-60 degree days for the past several weeks. My tomato plants are completely and utterly confused…and not doing well. It probably doesn’t help that the 90 degree weather has not-so-conveniently been around when we are out of town leaving them thirsty beyond belief, I’m sure.

Regardless of what the summer brings weather-wise, soup is always a welcome addition to my menu. Plus, summer vegetables make for one excellent, healthy soup.

Unlike most every recipe that I snag and post from a cooking magazine or blog, this soup came about from a random Google search. It happened to be 60-something degree weather last week, and I had frozen corn, green beans, and peas that needed to be used up. A quick internet search later yielded this result, which was accompanied by rave reviews.

I had to make this recipe when Mr. Prevention was out of town because he’s one of those people who finds hot soup offensive in the warmer months. Lucky for me, this soup only got better on days 2 and 3 and I very happily downed 2 cups at a time.

Whether you’re a summer soup lover, or like to scavenge summer’s best veggies for later, this is a recipe to make. Outside of the fresh, in-season veggies, this soup is healthy to boot.

Coming in at 83 calories a cup, this soup offers up 3.5 grams of fiber and a respectable 309 milligrams of sodium. I enjoyed the hint of tumeric and tomato paste which really helped give the vegetable broth some depth. I am a sucker for vegetable soup and this one is a keeper.

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Summer Vegetable Soup adapted from Food.com

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, quartered, sliced thin
6 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 small zucchini, halved length-wise and sliced
1 (15 1/2 oz) can navy beans, rinsed, drained
5 small red potatoes, diced
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1 cup green beans, fresh or frozen, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp ground pepper, plus more to taste
3/4 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
2 Tbsp tomato paste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until softened, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the next 11 ingredients, through tumeric.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover & simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Remove from heat; stir in tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover & let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: ~15 cups.

Nutrition Information (per cup): 83 calories; 1 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 309 mg. sodium; 15.8 g. carbohydrate; 3.5 g. fiber; 3.1 g. protein

Result: Packed with summer’s best veggies! Feel free to adapt this recipe to include your favorites. If you prefer a soup with more broth, plan to add several cups – this soup is chunky and plentiful in veggies. The original recipe called for sweet potato, but I doubled up on the red skin potatoes. I did use frozen veggies from last summer, but you can use fresh or store-bought frozen. To make a heavier meal or to please the carbaholic in your life, you can add pasta in the last 10-15 minutes of simmering. Enjoy!

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I’m anxious for my hike + picnic with my students this afternoon. Now, what to bring…

Be well,