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The trick to feeding your kids vegetable soup is to make sure that the vegetables are no where in sight. The problem with store bought cans of soup (besides high sodium content) is largely that most of them contain at least one visible ingredient that one or both of my children will certainly turn their little noses up at. Alternatively, there are several “soups in a box” that are well-pureed versions of vegetable soup that can be altered accordingly to one’s preferred tastes. For tonight’s dinner, I was determined to make a vegetable soup jam-packed with nutrients (superfoods!) that everyone would love.
It was time to use the large bunch of carrots that my aunt brought over from an Amish farm nearby. After washing, I cut the carrots into large chunks (no peeling allowed – there are too many nutrients in the skin) and cooked them in the microwave for about 4 minutes. I sliced a leek (pre-washed and trimmed, available from Trader Joes) and a couple of stalks of celery I had in the fridge and then sauteed them in olive oil. In the food processor, I pureed the cooked leeks, celery and carrots for about 1 minute, and then added cream and stock and continued to puree until achieving a perfectly smooth vegetable sauce – no chunks allowed. On the stovetop I brought to a boil some organic, low sodium chicken stock (the only real “meat” allowed in the house – Whole Foods brand is pretty good), kidney beans (dried) and barley. Since I know my kids will eat beans, there was no need to puree this ingredient (but you certainly could). Barley, I thought, I could just pass off as a “kind of rice.” Once the beans and barley were cooked through (1+hours if beans and barley start off dried, 5 minutes if beginning with pre-cooked versions), it was time to fold in the vegetable sauce to the soup. Yum.
While the kids and I waited for the soup to cook, they helped me throw together some cornbread. We had a box of all-natural Trader Joe’s cornbread mix in the cupboard (which actually tastes more like cake than bread) and within 5 minutes, the batter was in the oven baking. I did ask the kids to eat several spoonfuls of soup before they could have some cornbread. Wyatt chose to crumble his piece into the soup so that it “tasted more like cake!” Tonight’s dinner was a big hit and comprised three full servings of superfoods! Here’s the recipe, but consider adapting it to better suit your family’s taste buds.
Secret Vegetable and Bean Soup serves 4
- ~6 cups of organic, low sodium chicken stock (or your favorite alternative)
- ~1.5 cups of beans (any kind – use dried if you have time but canned is okay, too)
- ~1 cup of barley (uncooked) or ~2 cups of barley (if pre-cooked)
- 5-6 carrots, washed well and cut into chunks
- One leek, sliced
- Any other cooked vegetable you would like to include
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- Salt to taste
Bring the stock to a boil and add the beans and barley. If using dried varieties, you’ll need to use more stock and simmer for at least one hour. If using pre-cooked and/or canned varieties, 5 minutes will do the trick. Meanwhile, nuke the carrots in the microwave for ~4 minutes or until very soft. Sautee the leek and celery in olive oil. Once the vegetables are tender, puree in the food processor for 1 minute. Stream in heavy cream (you can vary the amount to taste) + ~ 1 cup of the soup stock that’s simmering on the stove, and continue to puree until very, very smooth. Add vegetable sauce to the soup and heat until ready to serve. Salt to taste.
Score: Alexis – 9, Chris – 9, Maya – 8, Wyatt – 9
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superfoodmama 