‘Cheesy’ Vegetable Soup

The nutritional yeast and coconut milk give a delightfully ‘cheesy’ flavour to this fiber rich plant based soup. Also rich in Vitamins A & C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, and B vitamins, it is a hearty and healthy choice for any Fall or Winter meal. Having trouble getting the kids to eat soup? In our house we often pour soups over brown rice or quinoa to give the kidlets an easier-to-scoop option. Another variation is to mix in your favorite hot sauce to give this soup a bit of a kick.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large sweet onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 7 tomatoes
• 1 head of celery
• 1-2 cups of water (as needed)
• 12 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 crown broccoli diced
• 1 medium sweet potato diced
• 2 large carrots diced
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 3 tsp chili powder
• 3 tsp onion powder
• 3 tsp himalayan salt
• 1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast

Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, celery, and water in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth to create your soup ‘stock’. In a large pot on medium high heat add coconut oil and stock, simmer for 10 minutes. Add in all remaining ingredients holding back only the frozen peas and corn, turn burner down to medium low. Cook until sweet potato and carrot are somewhat soft, I like to simmer my soup for around 45 minutes (you may need to add a bit more water depending on how thick your pumpkin puree was to prevent the soup from sticking to the pot). Stir in frozen peas and corn and allow to thaw and warm(approximately 10 minutes). Serve soup topped with black pepper, or serve over rice or quinoa for the aforementioned extra-hearty version. Enjoy!