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!