Baby, it's cold outside, and I have to sub today. So already at 6:30 in the morning I'm thinking about dinner. Soup and bread sound good, so I thought I'd share a vegetarian-friendly soup recipe I created for my animal-loving, non-meating eating darling daughter.
The best thing about it is you can adapt it anyway you like with whatever you have on hand (my kind of recipe!). Here's our favorite version...
12 c. vegetable broth (love the Trader Joe's Vegetable Broth concentrated packets, I use 1 box of 12)
1 bag Trader Joe's vegetable melange or any bag mixed veggies
1 bag Barilla dried cheese tortellini pasta
salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried onions etc. to taste
any odds and ends of leftover veggies from other meals (or additional frozen veggies if you like lots of veggies)
Those are the basics. Heat the veggie broth and let simmer. In a separate pan, heat the veggies to room temperature or just warm. Add to the soup. Throw in whatever odds and ends of leftover (already cooked) veggies you have in the fridge. If you need to increase the protein in your diet, add a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) or white cannelini beans.
Cook the tortellini for about 8-10 minutes (not all the way cooked but al dente tender). Drain and add to the soup pot.
Let the soup simmer for 15-30 minutes minimum. Longer is okay. Just keep the heat low as the tortellini will continue to cook.
Serve with cornbread or fresh bakery bread, sliced cheese and grapes or Clementine oranges. Yum!
*Note: this recipe is virtually fat free. The Trader Joe's mix does have a light butter/herb sauce so there are some fat grams coming from those veggies, but you could certainly make this soup with a bag of plain mixed vegetables for a fat free version.
