Lemon Vegetable Soup

Category: Soups & Salads | Blog URL: http://www.activefoodie.com/fight-the-flu-winter-soup/11/2009/

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Active Foodie

Ingredients

32 ounces container chicken or vegetable stock

1 small sweet potato

3 carrots

1 small large, or 2 green zucchini

1 small large, or 2 yellow zucchini

1 can cannellini beans

1 bunch kale

1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon vegeta seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a large pot bring stock to a slow simmer, then turn heat to medium/medium-low (you don’t want to over-cook the veggies while you are chopping the remaining ingredients).

While the stock is coming to a simmer, dice sweet potato and carrots into small enough pieces so that you can get multiple pieces on each spoonful. Once stock has reached a simmer, add sweet potato and carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile dice zucchini. Add to pot after sweet potato and carrots have cooked for about 3-4 minutes.

Wash and rinse kale. Tear the leaves off the thick stem of the kale and tear into bite-sized pieces. Add the kale, cannellini beans, thyme, oregano, vegeta, salt and pepper and let cook for 1-2 more minutes, just until the kale wilts.

When soup is done, add the juice of 1 lemon.

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About

How does that saying go? Feed a cold, starve a something….I don’t like starving anything, I look for every excuse to feed anything! And, being the hypochondriac that I am, whenever I feel the slightest tickle in my throat, hint of a cough, or mere bit of sluggishness I immediately bring on the onslaught of home food remedies. My tried-and-true mélange of remedies include 1.) a dose of Airborne; 2.) a bag of oranges; 3.) green tea with lemon and honey; 4.) and this amazing, nutrient packed lemon and vegetable soup.

Basically, you can throw anything and everything in this soup that you want. I like a mix of carrots, sweet potato, zucchini, kale and white beans. It’s a nice mix of textures and flavors. And as an added benefit, this soup is ready in almost no time at all! It is worth the little extra effort over heating up a can of that so-called “chicken soup”.

Plus, when you combine all these nutrient packed veggies, you are sure to ward of that cold! Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and vitamin C. Both beta-carotene and vitamin C are very powerful antioxidants that work in the body to eliminate free radicals. The carrots are an excellent source of antioxidants as well, and are the richest vegetable source of vitamin A carotenes (428% of your daily value). Carrots’ antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer and also promote good vision, especially night vision. And, believe it or not, zucchini is not only low in calories (one medium-sized zucchini has just 25 calories), but is also rich in vitamin C, and contains additional cardiovascular protective nutrients such as folate and vitamin B6.

So EAT UP!!!