You know that feeling after you’ve been traveling or you’re just out of your routine and all you want is to hit the reset button with a giant bowl of healthy veggies? Well this soup is the perfect way to do exactly that! My brother and sister-in-law, Justin and Bridget, have been traveling a ton lately and whenever they get home from their trips, they always make a huge pot of this soup that’s loaded with every single veggie you can imagine. Every time they’d post it on their insta stories, I’d immediately crave it. It just looked like the most nourishing, healthy meal you could eat – the kind of thing I should probably be having at the end of my pregnancy (to offset the ice cream trips, ya know?). I asked them for the recipe, and while they’d say “oh it’s a little of this and a lot of that and a bunch of giant handfuls of all the greens you can find”, I tried to narrow it down into a more specific recipe because I know it’s exactly the type of meal so many of us crave to get back on track! So hopefully I’m doing J & B’s soup justice and that it makes you feel super healthy and fab whenever you whip it up!
Ok so when I said “a little of this and a lot of that…” I meant it. You really can’t mess up this soup – the key is to just load it up with as many veggies as possible. I’ve made it before with handfuls of tuscan kale and other times with spinach and collard greens, and both were great. J & B always add shredded red cabbage in theirs, which gives it a perfect pop of color, but to be honest, when I was checking out at Whole Foods and realized I forgot it, I was too exhausted and pregnant to go grab one and I worried I’d run into another person who would ask when I’m due and then I’d have to see their eyes pop out of their head when I respond “last week”. So no red cabbage in these photos, but feel free to add it!
For protein, I love using chicken bone broth in this soup and also adding shredded rotisserie chicken. Bone broth comes with so many amazing health benefits that truly turn this soup in to the healthiest soup ever – it’s great for immunity, a good source of collagen, boosts gut health, and reduces inflammation… the list goes on! Of course, if you’d prefer to keep it totally vegetarian, you can easily swap in a vegetable broth and make it more filling by adding some kidney or garbanzo beans to it!
Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch broccolini, stems & florets cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed & leaves chopped (or 4 giant handfuls spinach or other greens – or use ’em all!)
4 cups low-sodium organic chicken bone broth OR vegetable broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt & pepper
Garnish with microgreens
Serves 2-4 (we polished off a whole batch the just 2 of us for dinner but you can certainly stretch it to have leftovers!)
Instructions
- Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot and sauté for about 3 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and continue to sauté another 5 or so minutes until mushrooms start to brown.
- Add garlic and broccolini and cook another minute or two. Season everything with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme.
- Pour in chicken or veggie broth and stir everything together.
- Let the soup come to a gentle boil, then let simmer. Stir in chopped kale and/or spinach and chopped asparagus. (If adding a protein like pre-cooked rotisserie chicken or cooked beans, you can toss that in now, too!)
- As soon as asparagus is cooked to your liking, remove from heat. Should be about 5-6 minutes – don’t let the asparagus get too mushy in there!
- Taste the soup and season once more with salt and pepper as needed.
- Divvy into bowls and top with microgreens & feel fab!
Remember, this is seriously the “kitchen sink” of soups, so feel free to just throw it alllll in there! Any veggies and herbs that you have on hand will work, and the more you load it up, the better! Enjoy 🙂
