This recipe makes a lot of soup. I freeze most of the soup in two serving portions for future meals. I use a very large heavy bottomed soup pot to cook this soup, which is important because it allows the soup to cook on the lowest heat for hours, without burning.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 medium onions chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped fine
1 red or green pepper chopped (optional)
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 28 fl oz can of tomatoes, diced or crushed
4-6 cups of broth (or more depending on how “brothy” you like your soup, and how big your soup pot is)
3 pounds of carrots chopped into bite size pieces
6 medium potatoes chopped into bite size pieces
500 g bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cup frozen corn niblets
1/4 cup of arborio rice
1 tablespoon of basil flakes
Garlic Powder to taste
Directions
Start with a large, heavy bottomed soup pot. On a low setting heat the olive oil, add the chopped onions, and saute until browned.
Add the celery, peppers, and garlic to the pot, continue to cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until all are tender.
Add the tomatoes, and the broth, heat to boiling over a low heat.
Add carrots, frozen mixed vegetables, potatoes, and corn niblets, heat to boiling over a low heat.
Add rice, basil flakes, and garlic powder. Cook over a low heat for two or three hours, stirring frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add water to the soup during cooking if it becomes too thick. The secret to the flavour in this soup is the long cooking period, over a very low heat.
Comments:
Do Not Omit…
Do not omit the tomatoes or the corn. Tomatoes and corn join together to create a complete protein, in other words, a meat substitute.
Source: vProtein: Identifying Optimal Amino Acid Complements from Plant-Based Foods
Tomatoes: I like chunks of tomato in my soup, so I use canned diced tomatoes. But if you do not like the chunks you can use crushed tomatoes, or more extreme, pureed tomatoes.
Arborio Rice: You can use any kind of rice in this recipe. Alternatively you could use some kind of pasta, small like Acini di Pepe, or larger like elbow macaroni. I use whatever I have on hand.
Basil: I use flaked basil, dried from our garden, or my farmer friend’s garden. If you are using powdered basil begin with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust to taste.
Salt: I do not add salt to this soup. There is salt added to the canned tomatoes, which for our taste, is enough salt in the soup. You can always add more salt at the table if you feel it is not salty enough.
Crockpot: You might try this soup in a slow cooker if you do not have a heavy bottomed soup pot. I have not tried it in a slow cooker, but I have made other soups in a slow cooker. I would cook it on low for at least 6 hours, then on high 30 minutes before serving, with the lid ajar, stirring occasionally.