Hearty enough to be the main course, this one-pot soup is the perfect way to warm up on a brisk fall evening. Have dinner on the table in under 40 minutes tonight!
Dried cascabel peppers add a delicious complex flavor (without the heat). Leave whole during the cooking process and puree at the end for a richer color and flavor.
Gluten free and allium free as always! Serve with a side of delicious whole grain biscuits for an added ‘yum!’ factor 🙂
Let’s begin!
I start off by heating my stock pot (dutch oven in this case) at low heat while I prep the ingredients (~8-10 minutes).
Chop the vegetables into 1/2″ pieces (or smaller as needed for little mouths). Finely chop the stems (only) of 2-3 sprigs of cilantro or parsley. These will be used as a garnish. Save the leaves for another recipe 🙂
Saute the vegetables for 5 minutes at medium-high heat in 1 tsp of oil.*
Add the frozen baby lima beans and broth** to the pot.
Note:
* To make this recipe oil-free, skip the saute step above and add the chopped vegetables, baby lima beans and broth to the heated pot and bring to a boil.
**I substituted homemade vegetable broth with a 1:1 mixture of vegetable juice and water (i.e. 1/2 and 1/2) since commercially available options contain alliums in one form or another.
Add the dry bay leaf, cumin powder, salt and dried cascabel pepper and bring to a boil on high heat.
The dried cascabel will float upside down at first. As it softens, a little prodding with a wooden spoon will encourage it to tear open slightly to allow it to flip over and sink a bit lower into the soup and allow the flavors to mix together.
Cover and let simmer at medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are all softened/cooked as desired, stirring occasionally. Turn off the stove.
Remove the cascabel gently with a wooden spoon, so as to keep it intact, and put to the side.
This pepper has a very mild heat and is known mostly for its flavor. Despite being fairly small, it generates quite a bit of pulp and has natural oils that add to the flavor, color and overall richness of the soup. To maximize the flavor from this pepper, you have the option of pureeing it and adding it back to the soup.
Option 1:
Discard the cascabel. Garnish and serve the soup. 🙂
Option 2:
Remove the stem and seeds of the cascabel and put it in the blender with ~1 cup of broth from your soup.
Puree the mixture and add the puree back to your soup. Garnish and serve!
Hearty Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1.25 cups frozen baby lima beans
- 1.25 cups chopped carrots
- 1.25 cups chopped celery
- 1.25 cups chopped potatoes
- 4 cups broth 1/2 vegetable juice, 1/2 water
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cascabel pepper dried, whole
- 1 bay leaf dried
- 3-4 sprigs of parsley just the stems, minced
Instructions
- Preheat your pot on low heat.
- Wash, pat dry and chop the carrots, celery and potatoes (or other vegetables of choice).
- Add 1 tsp of oil to the pot.
- Add the fresh, chopped vegetables to the pot and saute for 5 min on medium-high heat.
- Add frozen baby lima beans, vegetable broth, salt, ground cumin powder, bay leaf and dried cascabel pepper to the pot and bring to a boil on high heat (~5 min).
- Cover the pot and let simmer on medium-high heat for 15 min.
- While the soup is cooking, finely chop/mince the stems of 2-3 sprigs of cilantro or parsley. This is later used for garnish. The leaves can be returned to the fridge and used for another recipe.
- Once the soup/vegetables are cooked as desired, remove the cascabel pepper gently using a wooden spoon, so as to keep it intact, and put to the side.
- The soup can be served as-is at this point. OR
- Seed and stem the cascabel pepper and add to a blender with ~1 cup of broth from the soup. It’s okay if a few veggies come along for the ride.
- Puree the mixture and add it back to the soup.
- Garnish with the minced cilantro or parsley for a fun ‘zing’ of flavor, and serve!
Notes
