My Almost Famous Veggie Soup!!

I absolutely LoVE this recipe! It is a quick fix, one pot (ok maybe 2 for boiling noodles) meal that feeds my fiance and I for several days. I came across a recipe for a lighter minestrone and doctored it up to be vegetarian and pretty dang near perfect after several rounds of making this soup! Beginner chefs, no not fret! This is one that anyone can tackle!!


JJ's Almost Famous Veggie Soup
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
2 cups fresh green beans
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 14.5 oz cans Vegetable Broth (or approx. 6 cups if you want to buy in bigger quantities)
Noodles, cooked
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Let's Cook!!
1. Prep all of those veggies! This is the numero uno most important thing when cooking. The phrase is "Mise en Place"in French, meaning everything in it's place. This ensures nothing is burning on the stove while you race to chop up an onion. Make sure you cut all those ends off of the green beans! Trust me, they do not go well in this dish.

2. Using a stock pan or my personal favorite, a dutch oven, drizzle the bottom with the olive oil. Add the diced onions to the pan and let them cook up a bit. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add in the garlic cloves, celery, and carrots and continue to cook until tender crisp. Again, about 5 minutes. (At this point you should also have some noodles cooking too!)

4. Add green beans, crushed and diced tomatoes (sometimes I get CRazY and add 2 cans of diced!). Also toss in the veggie stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5. Plate Up!! Add some noodles into the bottom of a big ol' bowl and ladle in some soup!

6. Chow down!

Friendly Tip: So we all know you can't buy 2 stalks of celery or 2 carrots at a normal grocery store. Obviously in this situation you will have extras. Don't waste them!! I clean everything up, cut into big chunks and freeze them. This way, you have ready to use, clean veggies that just need to be thawed next time a recipe calls for half of a red bell pepper and a 1/4 cup of onion!

Freshly Washed and Ready for Chopping!

Onions, Celery, Carrot, and Garlic Cooking Away

Simmer Simmer

Ready to Chow Down!

I must admit, not the most beautiful dish to take pictures of, but trust me you will LOVE it!!