Winter Vegetable Soup

This is originally an Alton Brown recipe and trust me when I say this is a company worthy recipe. Butternut squash is every where right now so why not use some in a delicious vegetable soup. This makes a huge pot full of goodness so you can feed a crowd or freeze some for quick meals in the weeks ahead. I found a slightly revamped recipe by The Healthy Librarian over at Happy Healthy Long Life. I did a few of tweaks of my own and was quite happy with the results!

It nearly filled my largest dutch oven to the top! Alton Brown says its the best soup he has ever made! The first day I made it I thought it was pretty good. Day two it was even more yummy and day three double yums!!! The broth and veggies just kept getting better and better. I even served a large bowl of this soup to a carnivore who kept telling me how delicious it was all through the meal. Two thumbs up from everyone – so this soup will be showing up again and again on our menu. Thank goodness it makes enough to freeze up in single servings – oh and a single serving just happens to be 2 1/4 cups big! This is a filling, delicious bowl of soup my friends.

The broth is rich with flavor and the vegetables are tender but not mushy.

You can sub other squash or a sweet potato depending on what you find in your market – use other greens in place of the kale if you wish. I even added some cooked brown rice when reheating this soup for a quick lunch and that was fun too! You could use an Italian seasoning blend. So many possibilities.

 Winter Vegetable Soup

•  8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, sliced
•  1 large onion, chopped
• 2-4 large carrots, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
•  4 cloves of garlic, chopped
•  1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of fresh sage, chopped
•  28 ounces of  crushed, tomatoes in tomato puree or juice
• 2 ½ quarts of low-sodium vegetable broth
•  optional – 3 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce (Alton says the soy adds Umami) eliminate this for UWL program
•  1 pound  butternut squash cubes – this is also sold pre-peeled and cubed at Trader Joe’s Costco and Sam’s club.
•  5 – 10 ounces of chopped curly kale, stems removed – I went with 10 ounces chopped up pretty good
•  2 cans (15 ounce ea.) no-salt Great Northern or Cannellini beans—DO NOT DRAIN! I found them at Whole Foods.
•  2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 teaspoons Herbs de Provence seasoning blend or Italian seasoning blend.

1. Use a large 8 quart soup pot. Heat on high & sear & brown the mushrooms, until tender. Only add a little water or broth if they start to stick. Remove them from the pot and set aside to add back in later.

2. Lower heat & sweat onions, carrots, & celery over low heat for 30 minutes, at least.  Cover the pot, and stir occasionally, checking to see if they are getting too dry, & need a little water or vegetable broth to deglaze the pan. They’ll be very soft.

3. Add in garlic, rosemary, & sage

4. Add the tomatoes in their juice, cook for about 5 minutes, to blend everything together.

5. Increase the heat, & add the vegetable broth to the pot. Mix in soy sauce and heat just until boiling.

6. Lower heat to a simmer & add the squash & kale. Cover & simmer for at least 30 minutes.

7. Now, add the mushrooms back in, & the 2 un-drained cans of Great Northern or Cannellini beans to help thicken the soup with their starch. Mix well. Then add the 2 TBS  vinegar to cut the acidity from the tomatoes, stir in the Herbs de Provence or Italian Seasoning.

8. Heat through.

Yield: About 6 1/2 quarts soup

Servings Size: 2 1/4 cups

Nutritional Information

Per Serving; 175 Calories, 1.2g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 393 mg Sodium, 34.7 g Carbohydrates, 9 g Fiber, 6.7 g Protein

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown who says this is the best soup he has ever made. I found a version of this recipe on Happy Healthy Long Life and I made a few adjustments of my own that are reflected in the recipe above.