14 Vegetable Vegetable Soup!

Even though a number of people consider soup a winter only food, I really look forward to that certain few weeks in the summertime when ALL the yummy veggies are ripening.  That is, in my opinion, the perfect time to enjoy a big bowl of healthy and delicious vegetable soup.

A trip to a local "trade day" last Saturday provided the opportunity to purchase a number of fresh vegetables. I supplemented with a few pantry items and, of course, my homemade vegetable stock I had made months ago and frozen for meals such as this.

This recipe makes a huge pot of soup. The soup pot shown above is a 9 1/2 quart Le Creuset Dutch oven. We will enjoy several meals and then I will downsize and freeze in quart sized containers for suppers in the middle of the cold wintertime.  

6 quarts vegetable stock

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 small green cabbage, cored, and chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4" inch thick

3 ribs celery, thinly sliced

6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored, and chopped with juice

2 cups purple hull peas (or black eyed peas)

3 cups green beans, ends trimmed, and cut into 1" pieces

1 small bag riced cauliflower

2 medium yellow squash, chopped into 1/2" pieces

2 medium zucchini, chopped into 1/2" pieces

4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 pieces

1 lb. okra, ends removed and sliced

3 ears corn, shucked, silks removed, and kernels sliced from cob

1 t. minced garlic

2 T. Better than Bouillon Ham Base

3 T. tomato paste

2 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bring vegetable stock to a gentle boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Add vegetables, garlic, ham base, tomato paste, and bay leaves to the soup pot.

Stir to get all ingredients combined. Let soup simmer on low heat, uncovered, for 1 - 2 hours.  Stir the soup occasionally to keep it from sticking. Taste and add salt and black pepper to suit your taste.

Remove bay leaves before serving.  Serve with a big pan of cast iron skillet baked cornbread with lots of butter.  

Enjoy those wonderful flavors of summer!