When Your Fridge is Overloaded with Veggies, Make Soup - Serves 4 plus more for freezing

Aside from vegetables growing in my own garden, I have become a fan of Greenling, which delivers local, organic vegetables to your front door.  Before they really got geared up in Dallas, I was their guinea pig, helping out by sampling certain in season vegetables from local farmers.  Lucky me!  So within a few months, they are thriving and the goods are too.  That being said, we've eaten our share of turnips and rutabagas,  adding them to everything like salads (great roasted), pizzas, soups and potatoes.  I've had so many vegetables on hand that I needed to get rid of them so I could make room for more.  Therefore, I came up with this fabulous soup that literally had my entire produce drawer/some of my garden in it.  What you see in the pic above is everything, including the kitchen sink (ha!). The only thing I didn't throw in there were the beets.  I just used their leaves (beet pizza later with goat cheese and arugula!).  Seriously, this is the BEST way to clean out your vegetable drawer.  Throw everything into water , add garlic, salt, herbs... bring to a boil then simmer for about 45 minutes. Now, you have a fabulous vegetable broth and a terrific vegetable soup.  You can freeze the leftovers and whip it out on a later date and be proud of yourself all over again.

Garden Vegetable Soup

Ingredients


Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Everything in your vegetable drawer (except lettuce, which is saved for last), washed and diced, cubed, chopped if necessary
Herbs of your choice (I like Herbs de Provence, thyme, oregano)
Sea or Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper
4-8 cups water (or more depending on how many veggies)

Add about 2-3 tbs olive oil to large pot.  Heat until shimmering and add garlic.  Saute for about 30 seconds and add chopped veggies (not lettuce, yet).  Add herbs, salt and pepper, mixing well to coat.  Saute veggies for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add water and stir to mix.  Bring to boil, cover then simmer for about 30-45 minutes or until vegetables are soft (especially potatoes).  Add lettuce, cover, letting lettuce wilt for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Using either a hand puree or pureeing in batches, puree vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve either warm or cold with a drizzle of your favorite olive oil.