I always have a pot of soup or stew in my refrigerator. It’s an easy way to meal prep that takes care of lunches and a few dinners during the week and if I need to stretch them, I can easily so so by adding broth, a handful of kale, leftover rice or veggies. One major bonus is that I don’t have to think about what to eat for lunch. I can just ladle soup into a bowl and toss that with a spoon, some fruit and maybe a hunk of sourdough bread into my lunch bag and I’m ready to for work.

All of my soups and stews start with, what I call, my base. Once the base is prepared I can add beans, or lentils, rice or bulgar, cumin, turmeric, or red pepper flakes. I can also just eat it as is, as a snack after work or as a starter with a meal. We can’t eat too many veggies, right?

Here’s my Soup Base

Ingredients

• 1 sliced white or yellow onion
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage or chopped brussels sprouts
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I like Pacific or you can make your own)
• 1T each, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder,
• 1 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 T olive oil

Preparation

1. In a large pot add oil, spices, bay leaf and onions – sautee for 3 minutes
2. Add celery and carrots and cabbage – cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly (add a few tablespoons of water if the veggies stick)
3. Add mushrooms and zucchini, cook for 2 minutes
4. Add broth – bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until all veggies are tender

Now that you have your base, you can add ingredients to make tasty soups!

Tomato, White Bean and Farro Soup

• 1 large can of pureed or whole tomatoes
• 1 can of white beans, drained
• 1/2 cup of rinsed farro

Preparation:

1. Cook until farro is softened, serve with chopped basil and a drizzle of olive oil or parmesan cheese
2. If the soup is too thick, add water or additional broth

Lentil, Sausage and Wild Rice Soup

• 1 cup rinsed green lentils or black beluga lentils
• 1/2 cup rinsed black rise
• 1 c chopped kale
• 2 Beyond Meat Sausage links (spicy Italian or bratwurst) crumbled or sliced

Preparation:

1. Add everything but the sausage to the pot, cook until the lentils are soft.
2. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

• 1/3 cup rinsed red/organge lentils
• 2 cubed sweet potato
• 2 cups chopped, fresh spinach
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (or 2 fresh chopped tomatoes)

Preparation:

1. Add lentils and sweet potatoes to pot and simmer until tender
2. Add tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes
3. Add spinach, cook until wilted
4. Use an immersion blender or take a potato masher and roughly blend or mash.

As you can tell, I like a very hearty, filling soup! Feel free to experiment with a variety of beans, pulses and grains to your liking. All soups, in my opinion, taste better topped with some hot sauce and chopped avocado!

Now go run!

Keli 🙂