Nothing moves me to pull out a big soup pot like opening my weather app and seeing temps in the teens. This past weekend was brutal with freezing rain and snow flurries. I knew leaving the house wouldn’t really be in the cards, so I decided to make staying in as cozy as possible.

Cooking for me has always been someone therapeutic. I don’t typically measure or follow recipes. I zone out and pretty much make entire meals on autopilot. This is probably why I always return to the same simple classic meals time and time again.

This soup is definitely one of them.

I made this veggie soup for the first time in college when I was cold, hungry and broke. I needed something that would warm and fill me up without making me feel like a slug. It’s probably the easiest and most flexible recipe ever.

This soup will meet you where you are. Feel like walking through the farmers market and picking out fresh veggies? Add them in. Trying to get rid of the tons of frozen veggies hogging all the space in the freezer? Toss them in, too. Beans, lentils, rice, chickpeas? They have a place in this pot, if you want them.

This go around, I mixed fresh and frozen to make the most of what I had on hand.

Here’s what I used in this batch, everything can be subbed/exchanged:

Celery
Carrots
Onion
Broth/Stock (I used veggie, but you can use any you like)
Leeks (I used frozen)
Lima beans
1 can diced tomatoes
Green beans

Things I’ve added in other batches:

Mushroom
Corn
Peas
Potato
Kale

Directions

In a large pot, add a little oil and sauté garlic, onion and celery until translucent. Then, add in the can of diced tomato.

This is typically when I throw in seasonings: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano.

Add in all of the veggies, then pour in a 2:1 mix of stock/broth to water until veggies are covered.

Top off with some fresh herbs. I added in a little fresh rosemary.

Cover and let it stew on a medium/medium-low heat for about 45 minutes

And that’s it! Serve and enjoy. You could easily add meat to this as well, if you wanted to make it even heartier. I made this in my latest weekend vlog and wanted to share it with all of you as well.

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