Healthy Veggie Soup...

A few years ago when I did Weight Watchers, this was a zero-point vegetable soup recipe that is surprisingly good. Enjoy.

6 cups vegetable broth
Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic (from a jar or substitute four cloves minced garlic)
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don't skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large zucchini, diced

Bring the broth to a boil in the microwave. (This is a time-saving tip that can be skipped if there's no hurry.)

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender. Serve and enjoy!

I love curried squash soup. Sorry, this is not an exact recipe :). Bake a large acorn squash (or any winter squash) or a couple of smaller ones until soft. Steam a couple handfuls of baby carrots. Then, put some minced garlic and a chopped onion in a pan with some olive oil and saute. Add a couple cans of veg or chix broth. Once the carrots and squash are cooked, use your food processor to blend them with the broth/onion/garlic mixture until it is a nice smooth consistency and put it back in the soup pot to simmer. Season with garlic salt, ginger and yellow curry powder. Yum and so nutritious!

check allrecipes.com - this one is easy and tasty http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beakers-Vegetable-Barley-Sou...

Also, a simple way to make a tasty vegetable soup is to boil the carcass of a Costco rotisserie chicken to make chicken stock and add veggies - I usually saute some onions and celery and bell pepper, add stock, maybe some canned tomatoes if I have any, and leftover steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, green beans, etc.). throw in a handful of small pasta or leftover rice and you've got almost all the food groups covered.

Also, I've found that in a pinch, since canned soups are too salty for my taste, that I can use a can of soup as a starter for making a less salty soup by adding homemade chicken stock, leftover veggies and pasta, etc.

This is the recipe for my favorite vegetable soup, hands down:

Country-French Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped green cabbage
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup (1/2-inch-thick) sliced carrot
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup diced R. potato
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cup water
4 cups Fresh Vegetable Broth or 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth
1 cup drained canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Preparation
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add cabbage and next 5 ingredients (cabbage through caraway seeds); sauté 2 minutes. Add water and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add chickpeas, parsley, dill, and pepper; cook until thoroughly heated.

I don't have an actual recipe for this. You'll probably need to make it a time or two to get it the way you like it. Empty a large container of V8 into a large pot. (I use low sodium). Fill the V8 container to the top with water and empty that into the soup pot. My Mom uses a beef boullion (not sure of spelling) cube, put I usually leave it out. Add whatever vegetables you like and cook until they are soft. I usually use bags of frozen vegetables with maybe some fresh potatoes or cabbage or whatever is in season. Add salt and pepper to taste. My husband will sometimes add hot sauce to his.

Stay with me mama, I know this looks/sounds hard and time consuming but I swear it's not. I got it from Taste of Home's Light and Fit cookbook (I think!). I food process it into smaller peices for the baby (almost a year but started around 9 months) and he loves it!! And, I do campbells veggie soup in a pinch too....I just drain and rinse the broth off! And try progresso's new 'healthy' organic lentil soup in a pinch. Good stuff when your short on time!

Italian Ministrone

1 lb bulk pork sausage ( I use sweet Italian, but you could just leave it out all together if your not a meat person)
1 large onion chopped
2 lrg carrots chopped
2 celery ribs choppped
1 medium leek (white part only) chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 med zuchinni cut into 1/2 in peices
1/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 in peices.
6 cups beef broth (I use 3 (14.5 oz each) cans, it just won't be so soupy)
2 (14.5 each) cans diced tomatoes with basil, oregeno and garlic
3 cups shredded cabbage (I use bagged, non-dressed, cole slaw mix)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregeno
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (15 oz) can garbonzo beans (I use drk R. kidney beans on occasion)
1/2 C uncooked small pasta shells (I have used orzo or dinitalli pasta and last time used slow cook barley that turned out good too)
3 Tbs minced fresh parsley ( I never use this so I don't miss it, but don't know if it makes a difference)
Grated Parmesean cheese

1) In a big huge pot, brown the sauage and onion until no longer pink; drain.
2) Stir in carrots, celery, leek and garlic; cook for 3 min.
3) Add zuchchini and green beans; cook for two minutes longer.
4) Stir in broth, tomatoes, cabbage, basil, oregeno and pepper; bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
5) Return to boil, add beans, pasta and parsley; cook for 6-9 minutes or until pasta is done
6) Serve with parm cheese.

I have a 15 month old. He loves veggies but only if they are hidden. Jessica Senfield has a great cook book. It's hides veggies in everything from burgers to brownies and it's great. I have made this recipes and I can never taste them, they are delicious. She made the cook book with her kids.

veggie soups can have whatever you have on hand inside. Its good to have some broth, even veg or mushroom, (organic & sodium free for a baby) for flavor and base, tomatoes work well too. sautee veg like onion, leeks, garlic, peppers, squash etc till soft & fragrant.. if you use some spinach or kale (added iron) you can puree that into the broth before adding whatever else. assorted veg, fresh or frozen, beans... make a huge pot and freeze leftovers in ziplocs (easy to do if you "line a cup or yogurt container with the bag, edges flipped over, fill then carefully remove, let air out (by folding) and zip, or as I also do, I save all my plastic containers for this purpose. you can add cooked noodles, rice, quinoa, but wait till it cools so you dont over cook them, and dont add them to the soup to cook in there, they release so much starch it gets gross. 1-3 hours, low heat should cook your soup, I prefer longer cooking times for better flavor.
I refer to recipes for ideas, but never follow them.