Vegetable Soup

When I cook, I try to use mostly seasonal, local ingredients. However, there are times, when say I’ve just come back from a trip where I’ve been eating mostly sausage and potatoes, when all I want to eat is the vegetable soup that my mom used to make from a recipe that came from Weight Watchers some 20 years ago. In such as a case as that I might just buy zucchini and some tomatoes that were grown in some far off place where it’s currently summer and call it a day. After the starchy excesses of Berlin I was craving this soup something awful. It’s super simple, easy to make but feels really good.

Vegetable Soup
adapted from Weight Watchers

olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 zucchini halved and thinly sliced (so you have semi-circles)
2-3 carrots, sliced
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
3-4 cups chicken broth
2-3 tbsp chopped parsley (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until the onions are transparent. Add zucchini, tomatoes and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about 20-30 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt and pepper (I like to add lots of pepper). If you’re feeling up to it, you can roughly puree half of the soup, leaving the other half untouched. Serve plain or topped with grated cheese.