Do you know someone who is sick that could use a meal dropped at the door?
We've known a number of people over the past few months who fit this description, some who - Praise God! - have already begun healing and others who are very much in need of prayers.
Thus, I've had my children helping me to wash and chop vegetables and cook up chilis, soups, stews, and other dishes to share.
Among them was an Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity that we came up with after looking at a bunch of recipes online and seeing what was available between rummaging our fridge and cupboards and making a run to a local store.
The result, I thought, was delicious.
So, in honor of it being National Soup Month - and as inspiration for you to gift forward a meal to someone you know in need - I am sharing the recipe below and also as a free printable.
I will warn you that this recipe has a lot more ingredients than many others do and is a bit labor-intensive with all the washing, peeling, and chopping of vegetables. So, it definitely makes a good Sunday service / Work of Mercy project rather than a quick weeknight help. That said, it is chock full of nutrition and wonderfully tasty, so don't let the long list of ingredients and extra prep time scare you away from it.
Further, I want to suggest that, if you are short on time, you simply whip up you favorite easy soup recipe, because most soups make a wonderfully nutritious, warming, and flexible meal to share.
If brought over hot, soups can be enjoyed right away.
If the recipient is not up to eating or has been gifted ample food by others, soups can be refrigerated or frozen, then, portioned out and reheated easily on stovetop or in a microwave.
Most soups are forgiving, too. So you can add and drop ingredients according to availability, taste, food intolerances/allergies, etc.
Oh, and speaking of intolerances and allergies, I often ask about those before making meals to door-drop, and, if I don't have a chance to do so, I typically will avoid ingredients that tend to be common allergens. So, for example, in the soup below, I would not add the corn. (In fact, in one of the batches we made, we purposefully left out the corn due to the family allergies.)
Similarly, because some folks are vegetarian or vegan, unless I know everyone in a family is a meater, I tend to make vegan options that meat and/or dairy can be added to. (So, for example, I cooked chicken, onion, and herbs separately when cooking up our 10-Vegetable soup and, then, packaged it in another container and wrote a note that suggested that family meat-lovers might like to add the chicken to the soup or eat it on its own.)
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Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity!
Veggies:
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Spices:
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon rosemary or marjoram
1 tablespoon basil
1 ½ teaspoons white pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon thyme (or a bay leaf or two)
Other ingredients:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 15-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes (or 2 28-ounce cans)
4 cups water (or veggie broth or chicken stock)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons liquid amino acids (or low sodium soy sauce)
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn or 15-ounce can frozen fire roasted corn (optional)
1 cup frozen green peas
Up to 3 cups fresh spinach, sliced (or a small package of frozen spinach)
Add in before serving, if desired:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
chicken (pre-cooked with garlic, onions, and fresh oregano or just canned chicken)
Directions:
Put a very large pot on medium high heat and add just enough water or broth to cover the bottom. Heat until it starts to steam, then add the veggies.
Sweat/water saute the vegetables until they have softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add all the spices except the thyme or bay leaves to the pot and stir constantly for 30 seconds to activate the spices.
Add the tomato paste, cook for 4 to 5 minutes, and keep stirring until the paste begins to darken and starts to caramelize.
Add 1/2 cup of water or broth/stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to scrape off any flavorful bits that are stuck to the bottom.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach, lime juice, and optional chicken. Stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil, which should take about 10 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to medium low, add the optional chicken in, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Uncover the soup and add spinach if you like more al dente veggies and call it done. Or simmer for another 45 minutes for softer veggies and, then, add spinach. Let the spinach wilt for a minute while continuing to stir.
Taste the soup and adjust any spices if needed, or add salt to your taste. Add lime, if desired, and enjoy!
Notes:
You can add any other meat, bean, or lentil that you like and/or “stretch” the soup by adding up to four more cups of broth or water.
You can also add up to 2 tablespoons chia seeds for a bit of protein and to gel-up the soup some.
Whether making this soup or not, I encourage you to cook up your favorite soup and bless someone forward with it this week! It would be a lovely way to live a Work of Mercy.
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