WHB: Hearty Vegetable Soup (Thyme)

Glenna at A Fridge Full of Food But Nothing To Eat posted yesterday on how she enjoys using Cook's Illustrated The New Best Recipe Cookbook.  I received a copy of another of their cookbooks, The Best Of America's Test Kitchen, a few months ago and have made several recipes from it already, including meat loaf.  On Monday, I made a vegetable soup recipe from the cookbook.  It was fairly simple to make, which was a good thing, as my eyes were still quite inflamed from the conjunctivitis. Both Bob and I enjoyed the soup, which was very filling and served as our main meal.  The broth has a nice creamy texture, due to pureeing part of the vegetables in the soup along with two slices of bread.  It also benefits from thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, which makes it an ideal dish for Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen, but hosted this week by Ed at Tomato.  Head over to his site and check out the herby happenings. 

The thyme, rosemary and bay leaf all worked together to give the soup a wonderful flavor, but I chose thyme as my herb of choice.  I'm quite fond of thyme.   Last year, I planted common thyme in my garden and it's flourished there. Common thyme is a Mediterranean perennial and is used in this area for ornamental, as well as a culinary purposes. It's very hardy and tolerates drought and heat.

In the early stages, the soup has a thin broth and lots of vegetables. In fact, it may seem like there are too many vegetables. But, not to worry.  Three cups of those veggies will be blended, along with two slices of bread, to enrich the broth and give it substance.

I haven't used our blender in ages, so it was fun to haul it out of hiding.  Bob remembers his family using this blender when he was very young.  It's an Osterizer brand and very heavy, made the way they used to make appliances, to last forever.  We took custody of this beauty when we were married, eons ago.  It will probably outlast us.

The blended veggies and bread gave the soup a creamy, hearty broth, and a pretty golden color.

This soup holds well for several days in the fridge, but don't try to freeze it. 

Hearty Vegetable Soup               (The Best of America's Test Kitchen)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 small onions peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 cloves garlic, minced

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 medium russet potatoes , peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves 

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, lightly toasted

2 cups  spinach, stemmed and chopped

(14.5-ounce) can cannellini beans , drained and rinsed

(10-ounce) package frozen baby lima beans or frozen peas

1. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add carrots, parsnips, and onions and cook until lightly browned and softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, potatoes, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.
2. Remove and discard rosemary and bay leaf. Transfer 3 cups solids, 1 cup broth, and bread to blender and puree until smooth. Stir puree back into pot, add spinach, cannellini beans, and lima beans and cook over medium heat until spinach is tender and beans are heated through, about 8 minutes.

Comments

[s'kat]

That looks so warming and comforting! And totally thyme-a-licious.

[Alisha]

That looks so delicious! (Do you get tired of hearing that?) How interesting about the blending of the bread - I really like that idea.

[Jeff]

GREAT blender :D

[sandeepa]

First time to your blog Sher andI really fell in love with this lovely soup
Never blended veggies and made a soup before, going to do this for sure
thanks

[Glenna]

Hey, thanks for the mention. I'm glad you like Cook's Illustrated too. I was intrigued by the bread blending idea too. Great thickener along with the veggies.

[Jennifer]

Oh yum...it looks so comforting too!!!

[aria]

sher i love your blender! chris is a big fan of the blender i have to show him this one :) the soup looks wonderful, the flavors sound deliciou. YUM!

[kristi]

Love that blender. And reading this, and of course living in a frigid climate, makes me wish I liked soup. I know, I am a food freak. ;)

[Anh]

This looks really good!!! Sher, I am saving all your soup recipes to try out gradually when winter reaches Melbourne! All of them sound and look so yummy.

[sher]

s'kat,

Thank you! I like anything thyme-a-licious! :)

Alisha,

Thank you! No, I always feel grateful that anyone likes a dish I made! :) And the bread is very nice in the dish. But, you wouldn't know it was bread.

Jeff,

Thank you! Yes, it is a great blender--and you could kill someone with it!

Sandeepa,

Thank you for coming to my blog. I loved those banana pancakes on your blog. :)

Glenna,

Thank you! Yes, the bread thickens it, but I don't thing most people would guess that it was in there.

Jennifer,

Thank you! We all need some comfort, eh? :)

Aria,

Thank you! Yes, this blender is really something. It's so heavy, I feel like I'm doing weight training if I pick it up. :)

Kristi,

Thank you! You don't have to like soup! :):) Make some nice gooey cake instead! Or a nice pie!

Anh,

Thank you! Ahh, you are nice and warm there! Wish I was enjoying your weather! :)

[gattina]

Your soup has such a perfect consistency!

[Susan at Food "Blogga"]

Sher,

I have just discovered your blog--thankfully.

As I was reading through your last few posts, I stopped at Da Bears post (as I too am a football fan). I was truly touched by your lovingly crafted tribute to your mom. Thank you so much for sharing your memories of her with us.

I almost forgot--great soup!

[angie]

This is such a hearty bowl of soup, chockful of ingredients. Delicious!

[Kalyn]

Yum. Sorry to hear about the conjunctivitis (which I don't really know what it is and I guess I missed the post you talked about it). I could use some soup. It's (literally) freezing here.

[Callipygia]

Yeah Cooks Illustrated has nice recipes. It is amazing how different soups are by pairing them up with different herbs. By the way, why doesn't it freeze well? Is it the bec of the potatoes?

[Tanna]

Their recipes are just good and sometimes stellar. This looks beautiful.

[Sue (coffeepot)]

Great looking soup and blender. You could probably get a pretty penny for it on ebay if you ever had a notion to sell.

[Ed]

I can just taste the thyme in it and I think you have inspired me to make one of these to help with my post Christmas detox. thanks for taking part in Weekend Herb Blogging.