Vegetables are primarily carbohydrates (not a lot of fat or protein), but the fiber, flavor and undeniable vitamins in vegetables make them a “go-to” food choice for most people wanting a healthy diet.
In 2019, we kicked off the Vegetable Challenge at the Becoming Elli Community with Jill’s blog post and also talked about it in this week’s podcast. We realize that trying one new vegetable a week – 52 new vegetables in 2019 – may be difficult for those who have been working on increasing vegetables intake for years, so we modified it a bit.
Jill has found some vegetables that she has never tried before with purple Brussel sprouts. That is saying something, because she’s adventuresome when it comes to trying new things!
I’m planning on trying to cook my vegetables in a new way. So far I’ve been falling back to my favorite ways of eating vegetables – chopping them up into a salad with olive oil, cider vinegar and lemon juice… or tossing them in olive oil and roasting in the oven. These two ways are very ingrained in meal prep for me now.
I was thinking about my vegetables when when I had the V9 soup for lunch at my favorite Mediterranean restaurant. It has nine vegetables in it. Although the menu suggests adding feta, I just stayed with the soup.
Each time I try to recreate it at home, I usually end up using different vegetables.
While I was I was counting points (or points plus) with the WW program during my 2007-2012 Weight Watchers phase, I would make something I called Zero Point Soup. It was filled with vegetables and I’d enjoy a large bowl of it before dinner.
It has a tomato broth and is chock full of vegetables with parsley on top.
Here’s a similar version of the V9 soup recipe from the Wine and Anarchy< website. They also love this soup.
Here is my version of this Delicious Vegetable Soup
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 2 cups celery, peeled and chopped (approximately 2 medium)
— saute and then add to a large soup pot - 2 quarts water
- 2 cups cabbage (green or red)
- 1/2 cup broccoli (I feel it takes over the soup if there is too much broccoli)
- 2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds (approximately 2 medium)
- 2 cups zucchini, chopped (approximately 2 medium)
- 2 cups summer squash (approximately 2 medium)
- 1 cup peeled and diced sweet potatoes
- 2 cups chopped fresh green beans
- 2 large cans diced tomatoes
- 1 cup frozen corn or one can corn
Optional – serve with chopped fresh parsley leaves
My version is very heavy on the vegetables and looks more like a stew! Sometimes I when I make this I will add quinoa to put some protein into the soup without adding meat.
With the incredibly low temperatures expected next week, I think this weekend is a great time to make a big pot of soup! I just hope that next August/September I think about making a lot of this soup and canning it. It would be great to buy vegetables when they are in season!!
If this post inspires you to make some vegetable soup, consider posting a photo with your recipe on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BecomingElli/
I love this kind of soup. I like to make a big pot of it and maybe freeze some for later. When I have a bowl, I might add some cooked chicken to it or a few slices of kielbasa or some beans just to add some variety. Yum! The great thing about this soup is that you can use whatever you have on hand. You can even throw in frozen veggies.