Start the new year with this nourishing and delicious soup recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 celery ribs, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 ½ cups chopped fresh green beans
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 to 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, depending on how brothy you'd like it
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
Saute the veggies. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, and saute another 30 seconds.
Add more veggies. Add the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, bay leaves, and broth. Stir together and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are just fork tender.
Add the frozen veggies. Add the corn and peas, stir, and cook about 5 to 7 minutes longer.
Serve. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Ladle the vegetable soup into bowls.
At nine years old, Ben Gaffney asked if he could work alongside his father, a chef, at Congress Rotisserie in New Haven. The elder Gaffney put the boy to work washing dishes for two years, in the hope that it would discourage his interest in the restaurant business.
But a calling is a calling. Ben Gaffney has spent his life since then pursuing the wonders of food, bringing Middlefield along for the ride as chef at Lyman Orchards since 2017.
