My Signature Vegetable Soup

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Meatless Monday recipe: My signature vegetable soupThere comes a time every spring when I go to pull something out of the basement freezer and say to myself, “Holy crap, I have a lot of vegetables in here.”

That time was last week. We just had the first fresh spinach out of the garden in a salad the night before, when I discovered I still had frozen spinach from last spring in the deep freeze. Not to mention frozen grated zucchini and a whole lot of other vegetables that I froze last summer. It’s time to use them before they get lapped by this year’s garden veggies! Time to make my signature vegetable soup.

Years ago, I found a basic vegetable soup recipe in a women’s magazine – I don’t remember which one, but Glamour or Cosmopolitan were what I read at the time. The recipe was part of some diet plan – the “cabbage soup diet” was a thing back in the day – but makes a delicious soup, nonetheless. And the basic recipe can be augmented with whatever other vegetables are on hand.

My Signature Vegetable Soup

I no longer have the copy of the recipe I tore out of the magazine all those years ago. In fact, I haven’t followed an actual recipe for years. I know I’ve made a few tweaks. For one thing, I remember the original recipe calling for water and bouillon cubes (does anyone even remember what those are?) instead of stock or broth. I usually use homemade soup stock or purchased beef or chicken broth. For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth.

Meatless Monday recipe: My signature vegetable soupThe Basic Recipe

Use as much or as little of the ingredients as you wish. For a thicker soup or more servings, add more of everything.

Frozen grated zucchini

Grated zucchini

A Frozen Vegetable Variation

With frozen spinach and zucchini to use up, I thawed a bag of frozen grated zucchini and added it with the cabbage, potato and liquids. Just before serving, I stirred in a bag of frozen spinach, thawed and chopped. (Two bags of veggies down, at least a dozen more to go!)

I like to top this soup with grated Parmesan cheese and a few drops of sriracha sauce. Serve it with cheese toast for a great Meatless Monday meal.

Frozen spinach

Spinach

Do you have a signature soup? Tell us about it in the comments section below.