Hearty Garden Vegetable Soup
Now that summer is over and the fall weather is coming, this mean SOUP SEASON is here! My FAVORITE cooking season. For me, I make soup year round. I have a high tolerance for heat so I enjoy a nice cup of warm soup even when it’s 80 degrees outside. At 90 degrees, I’ll make a borscht. That recipe can be found here Garden Gazpacho. My garden produced so many peppers this year that I couldn’t keep up with the recipes. As I perused through my favorite Montana Cookbook I came across an Italian Minestrone Soup. I started out following the recipe but I got distracted and went my own route. This hearty meal was served for lunch while we played house.
…Serves 6-8
Ingredients
5 Peppers, diced (I used Cubanelle and Gypsy
1 Pablano pepper, diced (optional)
1/2 Spanish Onion, diced
3 Carrots, sliced
3 Celery Sticks (the snack ones) sliced
14oz peeled and diced tomatoes, or 1 can
1 cup Lentils
1tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 bouillon cube
7 cups of Water
1 tbsp Oil
Directions
Prepare vegetables. Dice peppers and onion. Slice carrots and celery. Peel and dice tomatoes. Heat up a 3.5qt dutch oven or a large pot over medium low heat.
Once hot, add oil. Saute onion for 2min. Making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Add carrots and celery. Saute for 2min. Add lentils and tomatoes, saute for 2min. Should be fragrant.
Add 4 cups of water, bouillon cube and herbs. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 1 hour. Lift cover and give it a stir. Add remaining water as needed. Let simmer for another 30min-1hour.
