Hearty Vegetable Soup

In the winter, I make soup 4-5 times a week. It's my favorite go-to meal and with a little help from the slow cooker, it makes my nights a bit less busy. I've been making this soup for years, but recently cut out chunks of tomato in favor of adding just tomato paste. My kids enjoy it much better that way. For some reason the chunks of tomato were not appealing to them. This recipe is very easy, yet flavorful, I hope you enjoy it.

To make life simpler, grab a bag of organic mixed veggies instead of cleaning and chopping fresh.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

You'll need:

1 jar of tomato paste, such as Bionaturae

1 c chopped carrots

1 c chopped celery

1/2 c peas

1/2 c corn 

4 c vegetable broth, or more

1 chopped bell pepper

5 cloves garlic, pressed or smashed

1 c green beans

1 medium onion, chopped

4 red potatoes, quartered

Option: add in your favorite beans

Let's get started!

For stove top

Throw your onions, garlic, celery and bell peppers in a pot ( medium heat) with 1/2 c of water and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add in the rest in the rest of the veggies, tomato paste and broth, and let boil for 10 minutes. Lower heat and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until everything is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

For slow cooker

Throw all ingredients into a slow cooker and set for 6 hours. That's it! 

Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

I found some beautiful poblano peppers at my local co-op and couldn't just chop them up as a flavoring for a another dish. I wanted this dish to be a bit more colorful so I grabbed some red bells to add to the mix, but any color would work. You could use any rice or bean in this, and add more spices if you want. My kids loved the stuffing for this, it would be perfect to stuff a squash with, too.

(before they went in the oven)

Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

You'll need...

2 poblano peppers and 2 whole red bell peppers, cut in half, seeded and boiled in salt water for 3-4 minutes

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tbsp coconut oil or evoo

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 c water

2 cups cooked beans (I used Great Northern and Black)

2 cups cooked wild rice

Let's get started!

Preheat your oven to 350. Prepare your peppers and lay them in a casserole dish. Saute chopped veggies and spices. Add the beans and water and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the rice to your bean mixture. Scoop mixture into pepper halves. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges of the peppers start to brown. I served mine with guacamole.