Mixed Vegetable Soup

 This soup features a lot of great veggies and can be turned vegetarian by swapping out only one ingredient! Please feel free to use what's available to you in your area or seasonally available.




For this recipe you will need: 


Ingredients: 
1/2 large white onion, diced small
1 medium zucchini, diced small

Stems from 1 pint of button mushrooms, diced small
1 medium yellow crookneck squash, diced small
1 & 1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, diced small
1 cup of lentils (your choice really)
4 cups of water (depending on your taste, the less water, the thicker it will be. )
2-3 cups chicken stock/vegetable stock
Handful of fresh spinach
2 garlic cloves, diced fine 
1 pinch of Herbs de Provence**
1 &1/2 TBSP tomato paste
salt and black pepper to taste
Red wine Vinegar to taste




Directions:


1.) Wash and chop all vegetables (minus the spinach) and set aside. 
2.) In a soup pot, add in 2 TBSP of olive oil and warm over a medium heat. 
3.) Add all veggies (minus the spinach) and garlic to the oil and sweat for 4-5 minutes. Stir often to make sure they don't brown. 
4.) Add in the tomato paste, Herbs de Provence and mix. 
5.) Pour in lentils and toss to coat with everything in the pot. 
6.) Immediately pour in the chicken stock and the water. Mix to combine. 
7.) Cook until the lentils are soft and vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes. 
8.) Season with salt, pepper and red wine vinegar to your liking. Wilt the spinach in at the last minute and serve. 

You could very easily puree this and the lentils will give it a nice thickness. Soups like this get better when they have time to sit, so it makes for great leftovers. Freeze in a mason jar and have it at your disposal for a sick/rainy day. Thanks so much for reading!! 

                               


**Cook's side note: Herbs de Provence is a french staple in the spice cabinet. This spice mixture is available at most grocery stores.  It may contain but is not limited to: Thyme, Basil, Fennel Seeds, Savory, Rosemary, Lavender and Tarragon. It's really popular in chicken dishes. Feel free to substitute this herb mix with Italian herbs if you do not have Herbs de Provence in your home. 




P.S: I am going to work on taking photos my prep work as I am making the food. I feel like it makes the work a lot easier on you all when you can see what I am doing throughout the whole process. Thank you!