The Chocolatine Sunny Veggie Soup

Today was a pretty cold day here in Brussels.  I am not complaining though as  winter has been pretty mild in Europe compare to last winter, and compare to the nasty frigid temperatures that have been hitting most of the US lately.  So soup was on the menu tonight (like pretty much any winter dinner meal in our household).  I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE soup.  Any soup, cold or hot, chunky or mixed, mild or spicy, you name it.  Both my girls love it too and as a matter of fact, my four-year-old daughter gets soup every day at her school.   Little ones in all  Belgian public schools enjoy a bowl of hot soup every morning.  I find it very good, especially for the little ones who don't eat breakfast.  Hot and nutritious, a good way to last until lunch time.

So tonight I decided to enhance one of my staple soup recipes (the healthy veggie soup recipe my Mom taught me to make and that my Grandmother passed onto her) to give it a little zing!  The result turned out to be great as both my daughters loved it and "ze man" was ecstatic! (he always found the base recipe to be a little blah).  I named it the Chocolatine Sunny Veggie Soup because of the nice and warm color of the soup. 

So here we go, here is the recipe!  

This recipe serves 6 people and is suitable for vegetarians.

Ingredients:

- 2 leeks

- 4 carrots

- 4 celeri branches (you can keep the leaves if you'd like)

- 2 tomatoes

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1-inch of ginger root

- 1 tsp of curry powder 

- 1 Tbsp of coconut oil

- water (approximately 4 cups) + 1/2 Tbsp of Kosher salt

- salt and pepper to taste

How to:

Chop the leeks and the celeri and put aside.  Peel the garlic and the ginger and crush.  

In a large pot, warm up the coconut oil on medium heat and throw the crushed garlic and ginger.  Stir with a wooden as the garlic cooks really fast and you don't want it to get brown or burn.  

Toss the leek and the celeri and cook until translucend.  Don't forget to stir so they don't attach to the bottom of the pot.

Meanwhile, chop the rest of the veggies and toss in the pot with the garlic and ginger mix.  Add the 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down and simmer until the veggies are cooked through.  As my Mom says when I ask her for a recipe: "when the carrots are cooked, your dish is cooked!"

Add the curry and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put everything in a blender or use an immersion hand mixer (be careful not to burn yourself!) and blend until all the "chunks" are gone and you obtain a smooth soup.

This very healthy soup will give you tons of nutrients and vitamins and keep your bodies warm on cold winter evenings.