Kitchen Sink Soup

Serves 6-8

Everything, including the kitchen sink — all those leftover veggies in the crisper you’d have to throw away otherwise. For the story that goes along with this recipe, see Soup’s On! blog post.

This particular soup comprises the following ingredients, but what you put in is up to you — you are not likely to have the exact same ingredients in the exact quantity, so I have put in what I used and a rough estimate of how much. Whatever your combination, just make sure you have enough broth to cover and the veggies — it can be a few veggies making a little soup or a lot of veggies making a big soup.

Ingredients

1 quart Vegetable broth (I prefer Pacific, Low Sodium – it contains no oil, or Kitchen Basics – also no oil, but has tomato paste added — both are “safe”)
1 quart water

(You can use all vegetable broth, but I used an equal amount of water because the veggies would be making their own broth, adding extra flavor and nutrients.)

1 medium to large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup celery, cut in small pieces (of your choosing)
5 carrots, sliced

(The onions, celery and carrots are standard in any veggie soup — as Emeril says, the “trifecta” (top three) of flavor in cooking (and I’d add garlic for soup).

1/2 Napa cabbage
4 stalks bok choy
1/2 cup snow peas
6 potatoes (a combination of red and yellow)
1/2 cup brussels sprouts
1 15 oz can tomatoes
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

(you could add cauliflower or any other veggies you have on hand)

Prepare vegetables, dicing the onion and mincing the garlic. Remove the core and slice or rough-chop the cabbage; cut other veggies in about 1-inch pieces — keeping them fairly uniform in size so they will cook evenly; rough-chop the bok choy leaves and cut the stalks in pieces.

In a large soup pot or pan, saute onions and garlic in veggie broth or water (I used veggie broth) until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add all the veggies EXCEPT the potatoes and tomatoes (those come later). Add veggie broth and just enough water to cover the vegetables; salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper).

Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes; add potatoes and continue simmering an additional 15 minutes; add tomatoes and heat through, 5-10 minutes. During cooking, you want to keep the liquid level just above the vegetables for a flavorful broth, adding water or broth as needed to keep it at the right level. Too much liquid and you dilute the flavors, too little and you lose the “soup.”

Soup is done when carrots and potatoes are tender, but not mushy — do not overcook. Correct seasoning. Ladle into bowls and garnish with diced green onion. Serve with a crunchy vegan (no eggs, no oil) bread or cornbread. You can add a side salad, if you wish. But the soup is pretty filling all on its own.

NOTE: Depending on your vegetables, you might need a little extra seasoning to bring up the flavors. I like the Adobo seasoning to bring up the “punch” in a soup. You can also add a teaspoon or so of the Organic, Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base, but use it judiciously, to keep from overpowering the natural veggie flavors in the soup.