Spring-Vegetable Soup

Spring is definitely here. I can tell because of the roller-coaster ride weather. Some days it's freezing; some days it's blowing and freezing; and some days it's warm and beautiful. Unfortunately, the warm and beautiful days are few and far between.

On those cold and windy days, I feel like it's still winter and reach for a bowl of soup. Spring-Vegetable Soup is delicious and fits my low-gylcemic eating plan. Hopefully, some day I'll be able to get my garden planted and start growing some of my own spring veggies for this soup. In the meantime, I'm not being a locavore with this soup.

I like this soup because it has lots of optional add-ins. You can add diced chicken for more protein, and 1 cup cooked quinoa and/or diced baked sweet potato for more carbs. I usually add some quinoa if I'm eating the soup for breakfast.

Spring-Vegetable Soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1/2 sweet or yellow onion, sliced

1 T. olive oil

2 zucchini squash, diced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3-4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1 or 2-inch lengths

3/4 cup frozen peas

Optional: diced chicken, 1 diced baked sweet potato and/or 1 cup cooked quinoa

1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook onion in olive oil. Add zucchini and saute until slightly soft. Add bell pepper and cook, 3 minutes more.

Add chickpeas and 3 cups broth to same pan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus, peas, ginger and other options. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until asparagus is crisp-tender. Add a little more broth. Spoon into your bowl and enjoy.