Simple Vegetable and Bean Soup Recipe

A quickly forming tradition in our house is to make a big pot of homemade soup and a loaf of bread on Sunday afternoons. Making soup is a great way for me to use up extra vegetables in our refrigerator before my usual Monday grocery shopping, and it's a nice, cozy meal to enjoy together before the rush of the week starts up again.

This week we had a lot of carrots and celery, so I went with a really basic vegetable and bean soup. If you're interested in making this soup, which I highly recommend, here is how I made this. Keep in mind, you can substitute really any vegetable in this, or any amount of vegetables. That's the beauty of soup.

Simple Vegetable and Bean Soup
6 carrots
4 celery stalks
1 onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed (I used great northern and pinto beans)
2 boxes of chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper
other seasonings you want to include (I used cayenne pepper and bay leaves)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Chop the carrots, celery, and onion. I opted to use bigger, roughly sliced pieces of vegetables to give my soup a very rustic feel. Finely dice the garlic. Once your vegetables are ready, toss them all into the pot. Add a bit of salt and pepper, then sauté them for about 5 minutes, until the onions begin to look a bit translucent.

Now add your vegetable or chicken broth and the beans. Salt and pepper as much (or as little) as you'd like. I also added a dash of cayenne pepper to mine, because I like just a hint of extra heat in soups. I also added a couple bay leaves while the soup was cooking, then removed them before serving.

Cover your pot and let the soup simmer for about an hour, or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. Serve with a side of homemade bread and enjoy!