Rustic Vegetable Soup

You will surely feel like you're eating soup they might have enjoyed in Little House on the Prairie.    :)

If you don't have these exact ingredients on hand, then just use what you do have. Soups are very forgiving, and you really can't mess them up.

And soups are such an excellent way to cram lots of healthy foods into one dish. Best of all, you slurp down the broth too which is simply packed to the gills with nutrients from the cooked veggies and more.

Here's the simple recipe I came up with tonight.

Enjoy!

Vegan Rustic Vegetable Soup
Serves 4

6 cups veggie broth (my fave is veggie bouillon by Organic Gourmet)
1/3 cup pre-soaked barley
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, cut into 1" chunks
4 red potatoes, skins on, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups cooked black beans
Pinch of celery seeds

Step 1: Place veggie broth in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add pre-soaked barley and rinsed quinoa, cover, and bring back to a boil. Lower heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Add onion, carrots, and potatoes and bring back to a boil, covered. Lower heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until all veggies are tender. Add cooked black beans and celery seeds and heat until warmed through.

You'll notice I didn't add any ingredients to flavor the soup. That's because the flavors of the grains and veggies were shining so brightly, the soup was just perfect as is.

An addition of a little squirt of flax oil to each bowl helps to give a further bump in nutrition, and is optional.

I served our vegan vegetable soup with toast slathered with cashew butter and coconut nectar. Perfection.