Winter Medley Vegetable Soup

Yay soup!

I'm not sure if you guys have noticed this, but I have quite a few recipes for soup. I love to make it because it's relatively simple, and you can munch on the leftovers for days. This is handy when you're busy with school and other commitments 'cause all you have to do is heat n' eat.

I found a sort of recipe like this in Martha Stewart Living (which has some surprisingly good recipes that are fun to veganize). I used it to base my ingredient amounts, but the recipe itself is all mine. I kind of thought the original recipe was odd. This one's better, lol.

Anywho, it's a very fall inspired recipe, full of root vegetables. It's nice and warming and it goes deliciously with my homemade whole wheat bread. I've been wanting to try chard for a really long time, and I've had some butternut squashes sitting in my pantry forever. Swiss chard is one of them wonderful leafy greens, full of Vitamin A, C, K, iron, calcium, potassium, and manganese. Add that to the Vitamin A powerhouse that is squash and the protein that is Great Northern beans, and you truly have a soup that is feeding your body and your health (all these vitamins and minerals are excellent at preventing winter illnesses as well).

Winter Medley Vegetable Soup:
1-2 Tb. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 Tb. minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1 bay leaf
3 c. vegetable broth
3 c. water
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
1 bunch Red Swiss chard, tough stems removed, cut into 1 inch ribbons, washed thoroughly
1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tb. lemon juice
Sea salt and pepper

1. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, saute the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in olive oil until soft, about five minutes. Add the salt, parsley, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and celery seed, and saute until fragrant, about two minutes.

2. Add the vegetable broth, water, and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Add the squash, potatoes, and chard, reduce heat, cover the pot slightly, and simmer about 30-45 minutes or until the potatoes and squash are tender.

3. Stir in the lemon juice at the end and add sea salt and pepper to taste.

I'll be making lots more tasty food since school is finishing up. I've already decided on some pomegranate roasted vegetables, biscuits with white bean gravy, roasted vegetable pizza, and a gingerbread somethingorother. Also, next week my mom and sister and I are gathering to do some Christmas baking, so stay tuned for some seriously awesome vegan deliciousness.