Joe's Garden Winter Vegetable Soup Recipe

The last couple of winters I have been making winter soups based largely on vegetables from our garden that keep well in our basement. The following is one of my favorites.


1 cup of dried beans (I have found pintos, Indian woman, and Jacob's Cattle work well, all of which I grow. The Jacob's Cattle do have a tendency to break down some, but are still identifiable in the soup.) If you don't have the dried beans, 2.5 cups or 20oz of canned beans are equivalent(drained).
1 Lb of potatoes
3 smallish bay leaves
2 Lbs frozen tomatoes Or a 32 oz can of diced or whole tomatoes
1 cup of chopped onion
One fourth cup of chopped celery
One medium large carrot - chopped
5 smallish chopped garlic cloves
One half teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of vegetarian bouillon
One eighth teaspoon of hot pepper sauce (or to taste-tolerance)
One fourth teaspoon thyme

Soften the beans in your favorite manner. I usually bring to boil in water four times the volume of the beans, then simmer for ten minutes and let sit for 4 hours. Then I might simmer again until they reach the softness I like. The beans should wind up plump so that when you bite down on them the inside seems to burst through the skin into your mouth - delicious and not achievable from factory processed cooked beans in a can. Drain the beans.

Heat slowly the frozen tomatoes and remove the skins with a fork as they warm and as they allow themselves to be released from the pulp. Timing is important, because if you wait too long, the skin will not separate easily from the underlying pulp. Do it quickly, as soon as the frost leaves the tomato. Of course, if you are using store bought tomatoes, this is not a problem, but you would do well to pick through the can and sort out any skins and stem scars that remain in the canned tomatoes otherwise they add a somewhat bitter taste.

Peel, if you desire, and cube the potatoes to a size for the soup. Rinse them and bring to a boil for ten minutes with the bay leaves. Drain the potatoes. If you use the high starch type(baking or Idaho) of potatoes, there will be some crumbling which will naturally thicken the soup. I often combine some of the high starch with some of the firmer salad type (reds) potatoes. This leaves the firmer ones with more integrity and the crumbly ones for a natural thickening.

Heat the bouillon to simmering and add tomatoes with their liquid, potatoes with the bay leaves, and beans.

Meanwhile, Saute the onions, celery, and carrot in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the Garlic, cumin, salt, pepper sauce, thyme and finish sauteing for 30 sec. or one minute until the garlic is aromatic and ingredients are mixed.

Combine all ingredients and simmer for one hour until flavors blended.

The soup can be thickened somewhat by taking some of the beans and/or potatoes and blending them. You can also make the soup more hearty by adding more beans, potatoes, and/or carrots.

Enjoy!