Best Veggie Soup Recipe!

Last night, I made vegetable soup.  Well, not purely just veggies, but it is vegetable heavy.  Normally everyone moans and groans around here when I tackle something like this and so I was worried none of them would eat dinner (cause I only make 1 meal a night, take it or leave it!).  

Instead of complaining after the first bite, every one of my kids devoured their serving and some of them asked for seconds.  Amazing!

I started with a recipe I've used in the past, back in my Weight Watchers days...this Recipe for zero point soup.

Then I made some changes to fit our family tastes and what I had in my pantry.  All of the ingredients I used are organic and that would be what I would recommend, but you can use whatever you have available.

2 pounds grass fed ground beef 

1/2 red onion, chopped

4 garlic gloves, minced

2 tsp salt

1 tbl pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 carrot (or 10 baby carrots), chopped

1 head of green cabbage, chopped

1 cup unpeeled zucchini, chopped

32 oz Beef Broth
32 oz Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (not the best soup in the world, but great as a base for this recipe)
2 6oz cans tomato paste

For toppings:
Fresh Parsley
Creme Fresh (you could also use plain yogurt or sour cream)
Grated Parmesan Cheese 

Directions:
Combine the ground beef, all the spices, onion and garlic in a large stockpot until beef is no longer pink.  
Add carrot and saute for a few minutes until slightly softened. 
Add all the rest of the ingredients to the stockpot and bring to a simmer.  Leave uncovered and let simmer for about an hour or until zucchini is well cooked.

Serve with rustic bread and suggested toppings (or whatever else you like to have on your soup!).

This is a large recipe that fed my family of 7 with plenty leftover for lunch the next day.

For myself, since I'm avoiding wheat, dairy and most grains, I just put the parsley as a topping

The kids and my husband were all served this delicious version, with creme fresh and parmesan cheese along with crusty bread and butter.

I must admit, I was a little jealous of how yummy their bowls looked until I tasted mine.  It was awesome all by itself.  You will not regret trying out this meal.  It could likely be cooked in a crockpot as well. 

 If you try it, I'd love to know what you think. Now I'm off to do some cleaning.  I just got off the phone with Dyson's customer service and they helped me fix my vacuums suction issue!  Yay!