Tammy's Recipes

A brothy vegetable soup with two kinds of beans, flavored with basil, with chopped spinach added near the end

1 tablespoon oil
3 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs celery with leaves, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
7 cups chicken broth (or water; it's good either way)
2 cups cooked great northern beans
2 cups cooked red kidney beans
2 cups tomatoes (may be canned)
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon parsley
10 ounces fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups loose leaves before it's chopped, or about 6 cups coarsely chopped)
salt, to taste

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes.

2. Add broth, beans, tomatoes, basil, pepper, sugar, and parsley. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until carrots are tender and flavors are well-spread throughout the soup.

3. Reduce heat to low and stir in spinach. Cook and stir until spinach is wilted. Add salt to taste.

This is a simple vegetable soup, with beans added for additional nutrition and coarsely chopped spinach added at the end for a delicious twist on ordinary vegetable soups.

This soup is hearty enough to be a main course (it goes wonderfully with fresh bread!) and delicate enough to be served as an appetizer. My husband prefers soup as an appetizer, so this quick meatless soup is perfect.

My rating: 10/10. I love the flavor, and how nutritious it is!