Meatless Monday: Coterie Cuisine's Rustic Vegetable Soup

When I find a recipe that I like, I don't do much to change it, I just add it to my rotation of meals, but I keep my eyes open for new ideas.  I particularly like soups and one dish meals, especially ones that allow me to add lots of vegetables.

A few posts ago, I did a profile on Nicole Rand Weiss, a vegetarian chef and owner of Coterie Cuisine, based in Manhattan.  I told her that I'm always on the lookout for a new soup or stew, and she shared one of her favorites, Rustic Vegetable soup.

I made the soup for dinner yesterday, it is so delicious, I had it again today for my lunch.  When I make soup, I usually add either white potatoes or brown rice, but Nicole uses sweet potatoes, which really adds to the flavor. For this recipe you can use green or red cabbage, I'm a fan of red, but for some reason I never thought to add it to soup.

Look at all those bright colors, you can practically see the vitamins. 

The finished product: 

I'm seriously going to eat this all week.  

rustic vegetable soup

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 leek, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced 
• 1/2 small red cabbage, core removed and chopped (1 inch) or you can use a 10oz package of shredded cabbage - red or green
• 3 small sized sweet potato, peeled and chopped 
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes (liquid included)
• 3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 5 ounces baby spinach leaves
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added kidney beans, drained or 2 cups pre-cooked lentils
• 1 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• evoo for sauteing vegetables
• crushed red pepper to taste

1. In a large stock pot, add evoo and cook onion, leek, celery, cabbage , parsnip and potato over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
2. Add garlic, fresh ground black pepper and tomatoes. Cook for another 3 minutes.
3. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
4. Add spinach and cannellini beans (or lentils) and cook until beans are warmed though, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add parsley. Stir. Season to taste with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Ladle into warm bowls and serve.

ENJOY!!!