Lara’s Fave Modular Bone Broth Vegetable Soup
I call this modular soup because it’s a building block for all sorts of hearty soups and flavor combinations. It’s the base piece and you can just throw other things in to change it as the mood strikes. It can become a Japanese soup with tofu, a Thai chicken soup with coconut milk, and many other permutations.
This is an example of what I call TRUE comfort food. Cooked vegetables are easy to digest and anti-inflammatory, bone broth is one of the most gut-healing foods one can eat, and few things are as satisfying and nourishing as a piping hot bowl of soup. Every few weeks I make a big batch of this soup and freeze it in 1-2 portion sized containers. Often I put one in my bag to take for lunch at work or take one out in the morning to defrost for dinner. It’s so nice to come home to a hearty soup that takes only minutes to assemble. Thank you to Gail Blair at foodrevelation.com who inspired this soup!
Module 1: The Soup Base
Ingredients:
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 leeks (the white and light green part) wash all the layers well and chop. Or 2 large yellow onions.
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken bone broth. I use this unsalted chicken one because I prefer to add my own salt / tamari / miso and if I use salted bone broth it gets way too salty for my taste. Making your own nice gelatinous bone broth is even better if you have the time. Here’s a nice recipe for that. Brodo, Kettle & Fire are also good brands.
2 cups water
1 large potato or sweet potato
1 can diced tomatoes. If you want a more tomato-y soup, use the 28oz can, if you don't love tomatoes, use the 14oz can. There’s really no way to do this wrong.
2 large carrots. I like using different color carrots, because a) it’s pretty and b) different colors = different nutrients! The more colors the merrier!
1 bag frozen green beans or two cups fresh (stems removed and cut to 1” pieces).
2 bay leaves
4 cups chopped leafy greens (spinach, Swiss chard, kale, collards, mizuna etc)
½ cup chopped parsley
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil for 2 min, add leeks and celery/onions and salt. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add the bone broth, water, potato, carrots, bay leaf, green beans and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes until carrots and potatoes are soft.
Add the leafy greens and parsley and cook until they are soft. Around 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. And enjoy!
This soup freezes very well so make a lot and freeze the extra in glass Ball jars (keep the lid loose so it doesn’t crack)
This is a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge. You can play with and change the ingredients ie peas instead of green beans. The only veggies I don’t recommend are beets (unless you want to turn this into more of a borscht) or bitter greens such as dandelion greens or broccoli rabe (which will shift the flavor in a more bitter direction if you like that sort of thing)
Now you have your base piece - the soup part. Next is the fun part - adding various things (or whatever you happen to have in the fridge) to make a well rounded meal. I suggest adding a protein (it’s good to have some protein with each meal) and if you want a heartier meal - also add a starch. The base already has potato and green beans so there is already some in there. Then if you are feeling fancy, you can play with different flavor combinations. All sorts of leftovers go well in this soup. Be creative and enjoy!
Module 2: Add a protein
Some examples:
Leftover rotisserie chicken, chopped into ½ inch cubes
Crack an egg into the soup while it’s heating up on the stove
A piece of fish, chopped into ½ inch cubes
Tofu, cut into ½ inch cubes. Here’s a nice high-protein one
Cooked lentils (see brown rice, below about how to freeze lentils)
Module 3: Add a starch (optional)
This makes the soup even more hearty and turns it into a full meal.
Some examples:
Brown rice or quinoa (I freeze these in single portion sizes in a silicone muffin tin. Once frozen I transfer the portion size discs to a plastic bag so I have lots of them ready to reheat)
Cooked / leftover butternut squash cut into ½ inch cubes
Cooked / leftover root vegetables like parsnip or yucca cut into ½ inch cubes
Module 4: Add flavor combinations (optional)
Japanese: Add miso (mix miso with hot water separately and add to soup - do not cook miso), scallions, and a bit of seaweed for a Japanese flavor profile.
Thai: Add ginger, lemongrass (boil these two together in a cup of water for 10 minutes to draw out the flavors, then add the soup base, coconut milk around ¼-⅓ cup per portion (I like this one), chili peppers or hot sauce, cilantro and lime.
Cuban: Add lime, avocado, fresh tomato, scallions, and yucca
The combinations are endless. Have fun and mix it up!
Bon appetit!