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If you’re looking for a flexible recipe to make the most with the produce that is popping up at markets all over the country, this vegetable soup may be your answer. By nature soup is highly flexible, and it’s the perfect dish to turn to if you’ve had the pleasurable experience of collecting miscellaneous enticing vegetables at a family trip to the farmer’s market…. and then unloaded them onto your kitchen counter and said, “Uh, yeah…..now what?”
Spring Vegetable Soup: This is a very flexible vegetable soup recipe, beautiful, simple to make, and a great way to use all of those long-awaited vegetables of spring.
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Flexible Vegetable Soup
Spring Vegetable Soup is what! The vegetables in this soup are all merely suggestions, and you should feel very comfortable swapping them with whatever filled your basket (or is lingering in your fridge). Here are some spring vegetables you may want to play around with.
Soup Add-Ins
Also, if you wanted to add some cooked pasta or rice or another grain towards the end of the cooking process, and skip the potatoes, that would be another great way to go. The optional pesto adds another bump of great flavor, and you could work in whatever fresh herbs are on your horizon. You could also think about a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice just before serving, which brightens up the whole soup. And no one (except for vegans) has ever been sad to see a sprinkle of Parmesan atop a vegetable soup.
Other vegetable soups for other seasons!
- Simple Vegetable Soup
- Spicy Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with Parmesan Croutons
- Vegetable Udon Noodle Soup
- Escarole and Spinach Soup
- Minestrone
And for spring, also check out:
Spring Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 leeks cleaned, trimmed, white and light green parts diced
- 4 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 28-ounce can pureed tomatoes
- 1 pound very small red new potatoes quartered or cut into eighths, or regular new potatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1 ½ cups trimmed and sliced asparagus
- 2 cups chopped Napa cabbage
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
For the Optional Pesto Swirl
- ½ cup basil leaves
- ½ cup parsley leaves
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and sauté for another minute, then add the broth and tomatoes, raise the heat to medium high, and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes and lower to heat to medium, keeping the broth at a simmer, and cook the potatoes until they start to soften, about 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto if using. Place the basil, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a food processor or blender. Puree until well blended. Add the Parmesan and pulse to combine.
- Add the peas, asparagus, cabbage and thyme and simmer until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Ladle into bowls and serve hot or warm, with a dollop of the pesto swirled in if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
