Lauren's Recipes: Vegetable Soup with Chicken

Healthy, glowing skin begins with what we eat.** Here are recipes I've created that deeply nourish me and leave my skin glowing. 

I deeply love and appreciate soup. My body agrees with warm foods and cooked vegetables as opposed to frozen smoothies and raw diets. I find warm, cooked foods easier to digest. Soup is a medicine for me. 

It's fun to spend hours in the kitchen making elaborate dishes. It's also just as satisfying creating something simple and delicious. I bought an Instant Pot last year and when I remember to use it it rocks my world.

Once in a while I make something life-changing that I feel like I need to share. This Vegetable Soup with Beans and Chicken is one of those. The chicken is totally optional. 

Fun fact: the chopped mixture of onion, carrot and celery is a classic base for many French soup and sauce recipes. It's called a Mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah). 

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients: 

1-2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 yellow onion

1 c. frozen peas

1 c. frozen corn

14oz can diced tomatoes

1 TB tomato paste

1 squash

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

black pepper

salt

1 bay leaf

4 c. broth

fresh basil

green onion or chives

1 inch length of fresh ginger, peeled

optional: 

chicken breasts

small potatoes

1. Make the Mirepoix: chop the yellow onion, carrot and celery into 1/4 inch pieces. I like to do them pretty small since we are using peas and corn.

2. Turn the instant pot to saute setting and once it's warm, saute the mirepoix with a lot of salt. This will release water from the veggies and allow the veggies to cook in the steam rather than using oil. If the veggies start to burn or stick to the side, add some oil. 

3. Chop up the squash into 1/4 inch pieces. Once the Mirepoix is cooked (about 5-8 minutes) add the broth. You can also use water. 

4. Add the rest of the ingredients: squash, peas, corn, can of tomatoes, tomato paste, cayenne pepper, black pepper, bay leaf, and optional 3/4 chicken breasts and potatoes. 

5. Cook for 9 minutes on High Pressure. 

6. While cooking, you can thinly slice the basil and green onion. You can also micrplane the fresh ginger, or wait and microplane it directly into the soup. Whatever you feel most comfortable with. 

7. When done cooking take out the chicken if you used it and shred it with forks. Put it back into the pot. 

8. Add the fresh ginger and remove the bay leaf. 

9. Serve into bowls. Top with fresh basil, green onion and more salt. Enjoy! 

I know it seems like there are a lot of steps here but it's actually very simple. I find that a lot of recipes online don't go into the nuances of cooking and instead assume you know what you're doing. I like to give it a little more explanation. Let me know what you think! <3 lauren