Hearty Vegetable Soup ... full of flavour and goodness

It's definitely soup week on the blog!

The tomato based soup from Tuesday - see here

to this hearty vegetable soup, which is packed full of flavour and goodness, 

perfect to warm you up on a cooler or cold night.

Ingredients

Serves Two
cooking oil spray
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots or 2 yellow peppers, cut into 2cm/1in chunks
400g/14oz tin chopped tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
400g/14oz tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 head young spring greens (approximately 125g/4½oz), trimmed and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Spray a large non-stick saucepan with oil and cook the onion, garlic, celery and carrots or peppers gently for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until softened.
2. Add 750ml/26fl oz water and the chopped tomatoes. Crumble over the stock cube and stir in the dried herbs. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Season the soup with salt and pepper and add the spring greens and butter-beans. Return to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the greens are softened. Season to taste and serve in deep bowls.

Tips

i) spinach, kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens could be used in place of spring greens

ii) double the recipe if you fancy eating it over a couple of days.

iii) The butter beans can be substituted for other beans from your store cupboard if you don't have any.

From an idea seen here

By the way if where you live the weather is rather warm you may prefer this 'Gazpacho' which is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold, usually with a tomato base, you can see the recipe and more details here

~ enjoy your day ~

You will find a variety of articles and recipe ideas within this blog. Please note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. If you have any concerns about your health, it is always advisable to consult your doctor or health care team.

All the best Jan