Instant Soup

I needed to make something for a potluck tonight, and decided to throw together a soup. And throw it together I did! Soup can be so easy - and healthy.

I saw this morning that I had a big can of tomatoes, an old carrot, and half an onion. I picked up a can of garbonzo beans, a couple little zucchini, a red pepper, and some spinach at the store.

I like to do all the prep for things like this ahead of time. I cut up the half onion, a clove of garlic, half the red pepper, a carrot, and the two little zucchini into pretty small pieces. I drained and rinsed the garbonzo beans, opened the large can of crushed tomatoes, and heated 2 cups of water to near boiling in the microwave and stirred in some powdered veggie stock (you could of course use any stock).

In a big pot, I sauteed the onion in a little olive oil for a few minutes, then added the rest of the chopped up veggies. After another few minutes, I added the tomatoes and the stock, the garbonzos, plus a little more water. Salt, pepper, and some dried basil completed the picture. I let it simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Then I added a few handfuls of baby spinach and stirred it in until it wilted.

Then, it was ready to eat, but it can also stay on the stove on low for a while. I grated some parmesan cheese on top before eating. Delicious!

This soup has endless possibilities: different veggies, different kind of bean, what have you. It's a great, fast, healthy weekday main dish!