Vegetable Soup in a Snap!!

It's the perfect time of year for soup, homemade soup, in particular.  I mentioned before that I was trying to make more soups and freeze the leftovers,  very seldom now do I ever buy a can of soup!!  I've made this vegetable soup recipe a few times now and every time it hits the spot - it's easy to make and the great thing about it is you can use whatever vegetables you might have on hand.  

This is a recipe I found on Pinterest, here is the original pin, which will take you back to that recipe.  But, I'll include the recipe anyway..

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 ribs, celery, chopped

2 carrots, sliced or chopped

2 cups mixed vegetables (today for extra vegetables, I used sweet potato, parsnip, frozen corn and frozen peas.)  I've used turnip as well.

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. oregano

1 bay leaf

8 cups water and 3 cubes of vegetable bouillon OR 8 cups of vegetable broth (I use the broth)

1 - 14 oz. can tomatoes, I only had the larger can on hand today but I just measured out the right amount.

Today I added 1/2 cup of pot barley which didn't make it into the picture!!

Heat oil in large soup or stock pot.  Add onions, carrots and celery.  Heat, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until onions are soft.  Add the rest of the vegetables and heat for just another minute or two.   I always cook them longer than stated.

Add salt, thyme and oregano, stirring to coat the vegetables well.

Add bay leaf, water or vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.  If using bouillon cubes, add and stir to make sure they dissolve.

Add tomatoes, stir and allow soup to simmer until all the vegetables are cooked.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Remove the bay leaf.  

  Two bowls were served at lunch, I froze two more meals and there was one single bowl left - much better for you and much more economical that buying numerous cans of soup!!!  Try it!!!  It's delicious!!