The Recipe Box: Our Favorite Soup

It seems as if winter has finally decided to come to the United States! Various parts of the country are experiencing snowstorms, flights have been canceled, and rain is finally falling on California again. With all this cool weather, soup is the perfect choice for dinner tonight. This week's recipe is a pretty quick and simple soup base and if you don't have all the listed ingredients is easily adjustable for you to toss in last night's leftovers!

Today's Recipe: Our Favorite Soup

Yield: 4-6 bowls of soup

Prep time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

- One 32oz box of organic, gluten-free vegetable broth

- 2 yellow onions

- 2 tomatoes

- 1 box of sliced organic mushrooms

- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes

- 1 cup baby spinach

- Handful of sliced fresh sage

- 1/2 tsp salt

- Basil, onion powder, garlic powder, and/or other favorite seasoning to taste

- Chopped green onions and cilantro for garnish

- Olive oil

(Optional)

- 2 *eggs

Preparation:

Thoroughly wash all your produce. Chop your two regular tomatoes and one onion into inch-sized cubes. Combine in blender with half cup of your vegetable broth. Blend on high, or "liquefy" depending on your blender settings until both tomatoes and onions are completely juiced. Combine contents of blender and the remainder of your soup into a saucepan and place uncovered on high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cover.

Chop your second onion into quarter-inch pieces, and chop cherry tomatoes in half. Grill the onion in a frying pan for 1-2 minutes with olive oil, then add tomatoes, mushrooms and salt. Grill until tender.

Your broth will have formed a layer of foam. I like to scoop this foam out and throw it away. If you prefer to keep it, that's fine; it doesn't hurt anything, I just don't like it. Once frying vegetables are tender and foam has been removed from your broth, combine broth and vegetables into one large pan. Bring to a boil. Add spinach and fresh-cut sage. Reduce to simmer and cover for 1-2 minutes. Scoop soup into bowls, garnish with cilantro and green onion, and enjoy!

*Note: it is sometimes helpful to chop all your produce before you start cooking anything. Also, this is a very simple soup base that can be adjusted quite easily. If you have leftover noodles or vegetables, or if you want to put other veggies in such as carrots or broccoli, it is very easily done! You can play with the recipe until you have found the perfect taste that you are looking for.

Optional addition: Egg!

The above recipe is vegan, but if you want to add a little animal protein into your dinner, drizziling an egg or two into your pot of soup is the quickest way. Simply take 2-3 soy-free eggs and beat them with a little salt. Bring your soup mix back to a boil, then remove from heat. Immediately drizzle eggs in. It is important to drizzle them in a thin line, or you will get large chunks of egg throughout your soup. Cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes while the hot soup cooks the egg. Dish out into bowls and serve with a little green onion and cilantro. Enjoy!