Hearty Vegetable Soup

Being 95 degrees outside in Alabama, I was trying to think up something to cook for the wife. The heat must have gotten the better of me because I decided hot soup would be perfect. I went scouring the internet for recipes and finally came upon a recipe by the great Alton Brown on the Food Network site here. I whipped it up (making a few adjustments based on comments on the site), and I must say it turned out fantastic (be even better if the mercury was at least below 60 degrees Fahrenheit).

Below is the final recipe that I used. This was my first experience with leeks, and I was pleased to find the following short video on how to clean and prepare leeks for cooking.

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cups chopped leeks, white part only (from approximately 4 medium leeks)
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds (approximately 4 medium)
  • 2 cups peeled and diced potatoes (approximately 2 potatoes)
  • 2 cups fresh snap beans (or green beans), broken or cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  • 2 cups yellow zucchini (2 medium zucchini)
  • 2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can northern beans (washed and drained)
  • 6 cups chicken broth (would have used 8 cups but ran out of space in my pot)
  • 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • ~1 lemon of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat.
  2. Once hot, add the leeks, garlic, and a pinch of salt and sweat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 8 minutes.
  3. Add the carrots, potatoes, and snap beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the chicken broth, increase the heat to high, and bring to a simmer.
  5. Once simmering, add the tomatoes, corn, zucchini, northern beans, and pepper.
  6. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes (the snap beans took quite a while to soften up).
  7. Remove from heat and if desired to thicken the soup up, use a stick blender to puree a small portion of the soup
  8. Add the parsley and lemon juice and season to taste with kosher salt
  9. Serve immediately.

The simmering soup prior to being stick blended looked like this:

What a tasty soup recipe. WAF was high, so this soup will be added to my basket of recipes.

This entry was posted in Recipe and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *