What's-in-the-pantry soup

I love soup. Chunky vegetable soup. And this recipe is just that.

I usually make a big pot of this, store in the fridge and just eat it throughout the week. It takes 5-10 minutes to throw together, literally. And it can be super versatile. Depending on what you have in your pantry you can swap things around to adjust it to your taste.


What's-in-the-pantry chunky veggie soup
recipe by Tram

Ingredients:

• a splash of olive oil
• a few garlic, cubed, or minced, up to you
• 1 onion, red or white, chopped chunky
• 3-4 carrots, cubed
• 3-4 celery stalks, cubed
• kernels of 2 boiled ears of corn (or 1 can of corn)
• 1 small can of whole Italian tomatoes, with juice (or whatever kind you have, stewed, chopped, etc)
• 1 box of chicken broth or vegetable broth (about 1 L, it'd be great if you have home-made stock, in which case you will need 1.5 - 2 L)
• 1 big can of either kidney beans, lentils or chickpeas
• dried rosemary, oregano, parsley, basil, cayenne pepper
• sea salt, pepper, pepper flakes (again, you can use whatever you prefer)

Heat olive oil in a big pot on medium low, throw in the garlic, onions, then the carrots and celery, let them sweat for about 3 minutes, stir a bit to even them out in the space. Sprinkle a pinch of salt.

Throw in the corn, sprinkle all the spices into the mix, I usually do 2 shakes of each and add more later. Stir to coat evenly.

Stick a knife in the can of the tomatoes and cut them up roughly. Don't splash yourself!

Throw the tomatoes in, with juice and everything. Stir and let sit for about 2 minutes.

Dump the broth in. Now, most likely your box of broth say "Do not dilute" but go ahead and do it by adding another half box of water into the pot (***You obviously don't have to do this if you don't want to, but I find that the commercial broth has a distinctive smell, and I break that by doing this and adding the spices)

Turn heat to high.

Rinse the canned beans under cold water in a strainer. Throw it in. And when it's boiling, it's ready! You can add more spice, salt and pepper to taste.

***note: sometimes right after the beans, I throw in a handful of those tiny little round pasta that are made for soups. They won't expand or go mushy being in the liquid day after day in the fridge. It's awesome! And wait for it to cool down then store it in the fridge, well covered.

Dig in! Add some hot sauce if you'd like, that's what my boyfriend would do :)