As the harvest rolls in, many veggies are at their peak of perfection. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, eggplant, basil, and zucchini all make this soup full of flavor. Use a combo of veggies to make this recipe your own. We quadrupled this recipe when we made it, using a lot of tomatoes!
We freeze our soups in quart containers, to have on hand during cold days. Nothing is better than the comfort of a warm mug or bowl of soup on a cold day. Sadly, those days are a comin’. Grab these veggies at the farmer’s market this week and make yourself a big batch! If you have a lot of veggies, consider doubling, tripling, or quadrupling this recipe for a great quick, weeknight meal. If you’re looking to preserve tomatoes to make sauce at a later time, you can freeze them whole, or can them. If you’d like to learn how to peel and can, click here.
We don’t saute’ our veggies. We add everything in and simmer together. This avoids the need for added fats/oils.
Ingredients: This made 3-4 qts of thick soup (when quadrupled it made 13 quarts of thick soup) , if thinned out, this could make more
- 2 cups of onions
- 4 cups of cubed tomatoes (we didn’t peel ours for this, feel free if you don’t like the skins)
- 1 1/2 cups of cubed eggplant
- 1 1/4 cups of zucchini
- 1 cup of diced banana peppers, de-seeded
- 1 1/4 cup of diced green pepper
- 1 cup of diced carrot
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, about 1 tbsp
- 5 cups water (or more to thin to desired consistency)
- 1/2-1 cup of fresh tomato juice, if left over from cutting tomatoes (or more water)
- 1 1/2 cups of cannellini beans, or 1 can* drained and rinsed
- 2-3 cups fresh greens: spinach, swiss chard, or kale, chopped
- 1 cup fresh basil
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients into a soup pot, except basil, beans, and greens.
- Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tomatoes have fallen apart, around 20-30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, add beans, basil, greens and cook until greens wilt and become vibrant green, around 2-3 minutes. Add additional salt/pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat and serve.
Nutritional Benefits:
- Packed with Potassium (1050 mg), helps with kidney and nervous system function
- Vegan and gluten free: fight inflammation and no cholesterol
- High in fiber, more than 8 g/serving. Fiber helps to prevent many forms of cancer, keep the digestive system healthy, lower cholesterol, and maintain proper blood sugar levels
- Very high in antioxidants: Vitamin A (106%), Vitamin C (122%). Vitamin A helps to lower cholesterol, improve heart function, skin, eye, and bone health. Vitamin C helps to boost immune function, both fight inflammtion
- Good source of Iron (19%), important for oxygenation of blood
- Good source of plant-based Calcium (11%), this would be higher the more greens you add to the soup, needed for bone health. Plant-based calcium is more readily absorbed.
- Heart healthy and a great food for diabetics
- 2 cups of onions
- 4 cups of cubed tomatoes (we didn't peel ours for this, feel free if you don't like the skins)
- 1½ cups of cubed eggplant
- 1¼ cups of zucchini
- 1 cup of diced banana peppers, de-seeded
- 1¼ cup of diced green pepper
- 1 cup of diced carrot
- 1½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1½ tsp dried oregano (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, about 1 tbsp
- 5 cups water (or more to thin to desired consistency)
- ½-1 cup of fresh tomato juice, if left over from cutting tomatoes (or more water)
- 1½ cups of cannellini beans, or 1 can* drained and rinsed
- 2-3 cups fresh greens: spinach, swiss chard, or kale, chopped
- 1 cup fresh basil
- Add all ingredients into a soup pot, except basil, beans, and greens.
- Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tomatoes have fallen apart, around 20-30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, add beans, basil, greens and cook until greens wilt and become vibrant green, around 2-3 minutes. Add additional salt/pepper to taste
- Remove from heat and serve.
