delicious soup and pistou

rainy day soup and pistou: see earlier photos

this soup is one of my all time favorites. it is warm, delicious and really a healthy meal to both entertain with or make in bulk and freeze. the pistou is a very common french and classic italian way to top soups, breads, pastas, crackers, etc. in this soup it is a really nice way to contrast the soup and highlight with the fresh herbs used in the stock...


soup ingredients:

1 28 oz can diced organic tomatoes
1 15.5 oz can of organic white beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
10 oz baby spinach
6 oz chopped mushrooms
1 carrot, sliced or diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 potato, diced
1 small head of broccoli
1/4 c. fresh basil (set some aside for topping)
1/4 c. fresh parsley (set some aside to top!)
4 c. of low sodium veggie stock
2 c. of water
the juice of 1 lemon, set aside
1 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. black pepper


directions:

add the diced potatoes to a medium high heated pot with a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper. let the potatoes get a nice crispy coating on them and begin to cook through for about 7 minutes. add the onions with a dash more of s&p. after the onions begin to caramelize add the garlic, can of tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, etc. and the rest of the ingredients along with the lemon juice, veggie stock and 2 cups of water.
add another tsp. of salt and 1/2- 1 tsp. of black pepper. let the soup come to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer for at least 25 minutes, but the longer it goes the better it will taste!

pistou ingredients:

1 c. of organic peas, thawed and drained
1/2 c. fresh organic basil
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. olive oil
salt&pepper to taste

add the peas, basil, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice into the food processor or blender and blend. while the processor is still on slowly add the olive oil until the ingredients come together. you may need to stop once or twice to scrape the sides of the bowl. set this aside to chill. it will last for days in the fridge and is great with pasta, crackers, soup, basically anything.



enjoy.