Vegetable Soup with Saffron Tomato Broth

Vegetable soup with saffron tomato broth

What's better than a bowl of steaming soup on a cold winter's day?  This vegan soup was inspired by a seafood soup in a tomato broth that a friend ordered when we were at a Latin fusion restaurant recently.

This comforting soup is fragrant with saffron and filled with bits of hearty vegetables and beans. I've listed what I used to make this soup, but you can use whatever vegetables and type of beans you have on hand.

Vegetable Soup with Saffron Tomato Broth

Feel free to substitute any vegetables you like to make about 6 cups of cut up vegetables. Try turnips, parsnips, leeks, sweet or white potatoes, golden beets, cabbage, fennel, Brussel sprouts, peas, etc.  Here is what I used for the soup pictured above: 

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, small dice
1 stalk celery, small dice
1 extra-large radish, small dice
1 rutabaga, small dice
1 large onion, small dice
3/4 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms (or your favorite variety)
1 small sweet red pepper
1 medium winter squash (acorn, butternut or the like) peeled, deseeded and cut into large chunks

2 cups of peeled and chopped tomatoes (squeeze out the seeds if desired, but not necessary)

6 cups of vegetable broth
pinch of saffron threads
2 tsp dried herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas (any variety of bean you like will work)
salt and pepper

In a stock pot, heat the olive oil and saute all the vegetables except the squash and tomatoes for about 10 minutes.  Add in all the rest of the ingredients except the salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Cook until the vegetables are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve as is or garnish with some chopped parsley, croutons or crispy tortilla strips.

Serves 6.

This recipe has been shared on Keep It Real Thursdays.


Thanks for reading!