Green & Orange Vegetable Soup

Sweetpea requested vegetable soup for lunch so we enjoyed this simple, chunky Green & Orange Vegetable soup, filled with healthful, brightly hued vegetables, to pack in the vitamins and antioxidants and skyrocket us back to the land of good health.

I used my typical Italian soup base of onions, garlic, sweet basil, pesto and marinara sauce to make the sweet broth, along with a handful of red lentils to add a little body and protein. This soup included potato, carrots, white cannellini beans, orange cauliflower, dino kale, and broccoli. It was so good we both had seconds!

Green & Orange Vegetable Soup
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sweet basil
1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 large carrots, cut on the diagonal
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1/3 cup red lentils
1/3 cup marinara sauce
1 tbsp pesto
3-4 oz white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 head orange cauliflower, cut into small florettes
1/2 bunch dinosaur kale, ribbed and torn
1 cup broccoli, cut into small florettes
S & P

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan and fry the onions over med.-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet basil and potato. Cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the carrots and cover and cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Uncover, add the vegetable broth, water and red lentils and bring to a boil. Turn to a simmer and add the marinara and pesto and season. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the beans and cauliflower and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the kale and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the broccoli and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until broccoli is just tender. Adjust seasoning and serve.