The best part of having a vegtable garden is eating what you grow. This classic garden vegetable soup is the perfect way to pass a rainy summer day.
Making soup is a great way to use up produce from the garden thats a bit on the tough side. Especially for those green and yellow beans that developed too quickly in the heat.
This recipe for a fresh summer garden soup features Swiss chard. You can substitute out ingredients as needed depending on what you are growing. Spinach is a good substitute for Swiss chard.
If you don’t have a garden, not to worry, these are all easy to find ingredients from your local grocery store.
Garden Vegetable Soup
The best part of having a vegtable garden is eating what you grow. This classic garden vegetable soup is the perfect way to pass a rainy summer day.
Ingredients
- 2 tbs canola oil
- 1tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black ground pepper
- 2 cloves crushed, chopped garlic
- 1 shallot, or medium onion
- Water
- 2 Celery stalks
- 2 fistfuls of green or yellow beans
- 2-3 potatoes
- 4-5 carrots
- 1 can or 1 cup of prepared dry beans (white, navy, black, or kidney beans work well)
- 4 leaves chopped Swiss chard
- 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Place a large cooking pot over medium heat
- Add oil, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and chopped celery to pot, and stir until onions and celery are softened.
- Add 6 cups of water to pot, allowing stock to continue to boil.
- Peel and dice potatoes, peel and chop caoots into 2 inch long pieces, and clean, and prepare beans by removing stems, and chopping into 1 inch long pieces
- Next, add potatoes, carrots to pot, and allow to contunue boiling.
- Continue to prep, by thoroughly cleaning swiss chard leaves. Remove stalks from leaves, and set aside. Chop leaves down into small 1-2 inch chunks. Next, dice the chard stalks like you would celery.
- Once the carrots and potatoes are almost cooked through, add in the chopped beans, and canned or pre-cooked beans and the chard chunks.
- If using canned beans, drain and rinse beans before adding to pot. If using cooked from dry beans, add in as is.
- Let soup continue to boil until flavours have blended (approx. 20 minutes).
- Laddle into bowls, and serve hot.
Notes
If using dry kidney, black, navy, or white beans. They must be pre-cooked by following the directions on the package ahead of time. Lentils may also be used in this recipe, but to not require cooking ahead.
I would love to hear about the soups you make from your gardens. Tag me on instagram @veggie_homestead, or comment below to let me know how it goes.