This soup can be modified to suit your tastes and can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. It is a hardy soup that can be made more like a stew, hence the name "Stoup". It is well balanced with vegetables, healthy carbs, fiber, and protein that everyone in the family will hopefully like. I made a big batch and froze half of it for when future Kel is craving a soup but doesn't have hours to make one.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced into small pieces
1 small head broccoli, sliced into bite size pieces
1 small container white mushrooms, sliced into bite size pieces
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. parsley
1/4 c lemon juice
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup of Trader Joe's Organic chickpea & red lentil Risoni (can sub 1 cup of any other "bean" based pasta)
1 - 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 - 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (can sub cannelini or any other bean you'd like)
1/2 medium butternut squash (optional, see "optional" directions)- sliced lengthwise and seeds removed
DIRECTIONS
OPTIONAL: Heat oven to 375 F degrees. Drizzle a touch of oil over the butternut squash and roast until soft, about 40 minutes. Cool on pan. Once cool, take a spoon to scoop out flesh into a bowl. Proceed to step 5 below:
1. Sauté onion, celery, mushrooms, and broccoli in oil with garlic, oregano and parsley for a few minutes in a large soup pot.
2. Add lemon juice to pot once veggies start getting soft and let cook for another minute or two.
3. Add vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, chickpeas, and risoni. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Using a soup ladle, remove about 2 cups of the soup including broth and all solid bits.
5. With an immersion blender or regular blender, blend the soup from step #4 until thick and almost uniform in texture. (NOTE: You can add the butternut squash at this step)
6. Add back pureed soup into big soup pot.
7. Simmer soup up to an hour longer to allow flavors to marinade. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
8. Enjoy!
NUTRITION INFO:* Makes about 10 cups:
Per cup: 180 calories, 4.5 g fat, 27 g carb (5.5 g fiber), 593 mg sodium, 8 g protein
*nutrition includes butternut squash and was determined using DietMaster Pro software
