Uncover the recipe for this healthy vegetable soup, packed with nutrients that will help you maintain a sharp mind. It’s also an easy way to prepare your body for a summer or winter health kick!
Why I Adopted A Vegetarian Diet
Back in March my doctor put me on a “Flexitarian” diet to help reduce my extremely high cholesterol. Eating a more vegetarian diet without worrying about being perfect at it.
My cholesterol numbers have always been higher than normal my entire adult life, and I have always been given the traditional recommendation of a ‘low fat’ diet, but my LDL numbers kept going up even with eating low fat, nearing closer and closer to total cholesterol at 300! Way too high! Being in my 30’s, this is an alarmingly high number. So I was faced with only two remaining options: either I give a vegetarian diet a try, or start on medication that I won’t be able to get off of once I start.
We followed up on how the “Flexitarian” diet was responding for me, in May of this year. After just over 2 months, my LDL numbers went down almost 20 points! It’s working! Not only did it improve my cholesterol, but as of today, the beginning of August, I have lost a total of 20lbs. This is a huge milestone for me, because I have also been trying what feels like almost everything to lose weight for several years. Even going almost 8 months straight with eating no sugar, and having not lost a pound even with that effort. It feels like my body was waiting for this diet to finally feel safe to let go of the extra weight. I do feel notably better overall; mentally & physically. I have a ways to go to reach my healthy weight zone, but I am making consistent progress from my efforts of being disciplined in the ‘flexitarian’ diet.
Keep It Simple & ‘Flexible’
This Imperfect Vegetable Soup recipe is a dinner I have found to be easy to create. What has made it easy to eat a vegetarian diet is to make it as uncomplicated as possible. In my brain health studies I have learned the magic of spices and how they help you feel full, and wake up your brain and body in just the right ways.
The first instruction of this recipe is to ‘don’t stress about it’. Keep it simple, add whatever veggies you need to use up from your fridge, and there are no strict measurements, so it’s all by ‘feel’ and taste. You can’t mess it up unless you drop a whole bottle of spice in the soup, lol 🙂
So, let’s get right to it. Below are the ingredients, images to help you visually see how it’s made, and in a separate blog post I’ll share why I choose these specific spices to cook with (why they’re good for the brain & body). These spices become the ‘secret ingredient’ that makes your family members say what my husband says every time I make this dinner: “This is my FAVORITE soup that you make!” 🙂
The Imperfect Vegetable Soup Recipe
You’ll need a large soup pot, large pan, cutting board, large chef knife…
Ingredient List
- Bear Creek Minestrone Soup Mix (or similar soup mix)…
- Beyond Beef – or – Impossible Burger plant-based ‘meat’, 1/3 of the package…
- 1 cup of frozen veggie mix…
- 1 onion (I tend to favor the red onions, but it can be any type onion)…
- Fresh garlic…
- Any veggies that you have in the fridge that need used up, in this recipe I’m using carrots & zucchini…
- *optional* canned – drained- black beans, a few spoon fulls…
- Spices: Sea Salt & Black Pepper, Oregano, Marjoram, Basil (fresh if you have it available), Thyme, Cayenne Red Pepper, Turmeric, Rosemary (fresh if you have it available)…
Prep Time: ~15min
Cook Time: ~20min
Step One: Get a pot of water set to boil…
Get a large soup pot, large enough to comfortably boil 8-9 cups of water. Set it on high and bring it to a full boil…
Step Two: Warm Up the Large Pan with Avocado OIl…
I cook with two oils, avocado oil for savory dishes, and coconut oil for a sweeter dish. Both are safe to cook with at high heat (Olive Oil is NOT safe to cook at high heat)… In this case I am preparing to sauté the extra veggies and brown the plant-based meat, so I add a small amount of avocado oil to the pan and set the temperature to medium-low… It’s better to cook your food slowly, too high – too fast can kill a lot of the nutrients you want to preserve in veggies & meat…
Step Three: Chop up the leftover veggies…
These can be any leftover veggies that sound good to you for a soup ingredient. In this example I am using up some baby carrots & zucchini before they go bad, and some extra onions that were given to us to add to a sandwich (we ordered onions on the side at a sandwich shop)… I always cook with fresh garlic, that’s something to always have in your fridge at all times. Garlic compliments most dishes.
I am adding the zucchini & onions, as well as the crushed+chopped garlic to the pan and let them heat up while I chop up the carrots to add to the now boiling water…
Root vegetables take awhile to soften up, so it’s good to get the carrots in there before the soup mix & extra ingredients…
Step Four: ‘Thyme’ to spice it up! 😉
This is the ‘secret ingredient(s)’ to making this soup come alive, and set it apart from other canned/bagged soups. Spices make any dish ‘restaurant’ worthy, and help you appear like a professional chef 😉 …
Break out your spices and spread them over the chopped veggies you added to your pan. There isn’t any set amount, this is all by feel and what doesn’t look overwhelming to you. Keep in mind that you have 8-9 cups of water in the pot, a soup mix you’ll be adding in there next, and your plant-based meat that will help distribute out the flavoring. For reference, here is what my spices look like on the veggies.
If you don’t like overly spicey (hot) dishes, use a little less Cayenne Red Pepper & Turmeric.
Step Five: Add Soup Mix & Brown the ‘Meat’
Open up the Bear Creek Minestrone Soup Mix . This soup mix is good as is, but I find it to be a more satisfying meal when added to. It comes prepackaged with noodles and freeze-dried veggies. When you add the soup mix to the boiling water, add in one or two cups of frozen veggies if you have any in your freezer.
Next, add 1/3 of the *plant-based ‘meat’ package to the pan with chopped veggies & spices (if you’re using fresh basil, this is when I usually add some to the meat & chopped veggies).
This plant-based meat brand could be Beyond Beef – or – Impossible Burger.
*I find Impossible Burger to taste more like ‘real beef’, but Beyond Beef , even though it’s ~$1 more, you get more ‘meat’ for the money. 12 oz for Impossible Burger vs 16oz for Beyond Burger. The spices I use dress up the ‘beef’ well enough that the taste difference with the ‘meat’ alone doesn’t really matter. I also immediately divide the meat into three sections so I can get 3 separate meals out of each package.
Step Six: Add the Meat & Veggies to the Pot
Once the ground meat has browned, it’s time to dump the meat & chopped veggie mixture to the boiling soup. Reduce the temperature to ‘low’ and let it simmer for 20minutes before serving. You don’t have to worry about plant-based meat being ‘fully cooked’ like you’d be concerned with ‘real beef’. So I just cook it up in the pan until it darkens to a brown shade.
Step Seven: Serve & Enjoy!
This soup is very tasty fresh, but even better as left-overs. Cool the pot entirely before storing away in the fridge. With just Clark and I at home, we get 3 dinners worth out of this soup, 6 servings in total.
If you decide to give this soup a try, and you enjoy it, please let me know in a comment below! If you discover any ingredients that you feel make it even better, please share! 🙂
Choosing to adopt a vegetarian diet can be overwhelming and seem unappealing. It has helped to have a ‘flexible’ start, and choose simple meals that taste like ‘normal food’. If you find this recipe helpful, please share with your friends! 💚
