Indian-Spiced Vegetable Soup
/Happy Friday! Who else craves spicy Indian food at the end of a long week? If you do, you need to make this quick and spicy vegetable soup tonight! Full of vegetables, it’s insanely healthy. And while you wouldn’t notice, this one is vegan, which means it will serve as a nice break from animal products from the week, and it will lessen your footprint on the environment! A win-win for all.
In this soup, I used turnips, carrots, potatoes, and cauliflower as the main vegetables. But feel free to use some of your other favorites. I imagine that it would be great with green beans, peas, bell peppers, and zucchini as well.
Adrian will often ask me jokingly when we make dinner with this much veg: “exactly how much nutrition do you think is in this?” and I just shake my head because it might as well be infinite! At 1/2 lb of vegetables per serving, I will happily trade this soup for a quarter pounder hamburger any day! It’s just too good and healthy to pass up!
Note: For a soupy consistency, I recommend using 4 cups of water. But for more of a masala consistency, which is how I like mine, just barely cover the vegetables with water, and cook the soup a little longer until it thickens up.
Indian-Spiced Vegetable Soup
Time: 40 Minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 carrots, sliced diagnonally
1 large Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 head small cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
4 Japanese turnips, peeled and quartered, about 1/2 lb
8-12 Thai chilies (optional)
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cardamom pods, cracked
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium vine ripe tomato, chopped
To Serve
Steamed rice or naan
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Directions
In a large pot or Dutch oven, add onion, carrots, potato, cauliflower, turnips, chilies, cumin, and cardamom pods. Season with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper to taste. Cover with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add tomato and simmer for 10 minutes longer, until the soup reaches the desired consistency.
Serve soup in bowls with steamed rice or naan on the side. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve immediately!
