hearty winter vegetable soup
Anyone else have a hard time eating enough veggies in the winter? I just want warm, filling food — which often equates to meat and potatoes (and butter on everything).
This soup, with its tomato-coconut milk base, delicious beans, and sweet root vegetables, is hearty enough for a meal but also chock full of vitamins and minerals.
You can easily customize it to make it vegan, paleo, or keto, or simply alter it to your taste (see recipe notes).
hearty winter vegetable soup
1 tbsp olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups sweet potato and/or butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 cup parsnips, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5-7 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 16-oz can diced or crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 can (7 oz) full-fat coconut milk
2-3 cups homemade chicken or vegetable broth (I like to use my easy homemade chicken bone broth)
2-inch sprig fresh rosemary
5-6 stems fresh thyme
3-4 medium sage leaves, chopped fine
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 16-oz can adzuki beans (you can also use cannellini beans, great northern beans, or chickpeas)
Optional: 1-2 cups chopped lacinato kale
Celtic sea salt (or herbal salt) and pepper to taste
Extra chopped parsley and olive oil for garnish
In a medium dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil, onions, and salt. Saute until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, sweet potato, celery, squash, parsnips, and carrots. Sweat for 7-10 minutes until the veggies begin to soften.
Add tomatoes, coconut milk, fresh herbs, and enough chicken broth to just barely cover the vegetables. Return to a boil and stir.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30-40 minutes until veggies are tender and the rosemary and thyme leaves have separated from their stems. Remove stems and discard. (Note: if you don’t like picking out herb stems, you can make a “bouquet garni” by tying the herbs in a bundle with cooking twine).
Add frozen peas, beans, and parsley. Cook for an additional 10 minutes or until peas and beans are heated through.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parsley, and serve with fresh sourdough or focaccia bread and butter!
Make it vegan
Substitute vegetable broth for chicken bone broth.
Make it Keto
Omit peas and beans. Reduce amounts of carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash, replacing with extra celery, zucchini, cauliflower, or other low-carb veg. Really, you can use just about anything in this soup, and it will taste great!