Savory Vegetable Soup

This is a real pantry-cleaner of a vegetable soup, built on canned tomatoes, tomato paste and a splash of tomato juice for depth, then loaded with big chunks of whatever hearty vegetables you have around. Potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, green beans, lima beans and corn all go in together and simmer for hours.

The slow simmer is the whole technique. Nothing fancy happens here, but the long cook time is what turns a pile of vegetables and a can of tomatoes into something with real depth. Give it two or three hours minimum, and trust the soup to tell you when it’s ready by smell.

Two beef bouillon cubes do most of the savory heavy work (chicken or vegetable cubes work fine if you want to keep things vegetarian). Bay leaf adds that background woodsy note you can’t quite place but would miss if it were gone.

This truly is better on day two, the flavors meld overnight in the fridge into something unified rather than individual vegetable notes.

Kitchen Tips

• Squeeze whole canned tomatoes with your hands before adding, this breaks them down and releases their juices into the broth faster than cutting in the pot
• Cut vegetables in similar-sized chunks, uneven pieces cook unevenly and the smaller bits turn to mush
• Salt conservatively at the start, bouillon cubes already carry significant salt
• Skim any foam that rises in the first 30 minutes for a cleaner-tasting broth
• Remove the bay leaf before serving, whole bay can crack a tooth and tastes unpleasant chewed

Variations

• Add a can of hominy for a Southwestern lean and pleasantly chewy texture
• Stir in cooked pasta or rice in the last ten minutes for a heartier bowl
• Toss a Parmesan rind into the pot while simmering for extra umami depth