Easy Onion Vegetable Soup

More About This Recipe

• My kids love soup and on time-pressed nights when I just can’t figure out what to eat, a recipe like my Onion Vegetable Soup is just the ticket for a fast, easy and tasty meal.
  
  Back when I was a vegetarian, the number one soup I missed was French onion. Since that’s made with beef stock, it was decidedly unvegetarian friendly. So, I did the next best thing: I made a pseudo-onion soup with vegetable stock, lots of onions and veggies.
  
  The key to getting the flavor right here is to buy a good vegetable stock. Avoid the ones that are heavy with tomatoes and carrots as that will skew the flavor in the wrong direction. The onions are slightly caramelized in the cooking process as well, which makes the flavor rich and onion-y … perfect for any evening.
  
  This soup, which serves two adults or one adult and two kids, is really simple to make. You start with a sweet onion, a shallot and a couple cloves of garlic. They cook up fast in a little oil and then you add the vegetable stock and herbs.
  
  That mixture boils for 20 minutes, and then you add salt, pepper and frozen veggies and cook for just a few more minutes. Cool it just a bit and you are totally ready to serve.
  
  What’s your favorite fast soup?
  
  Sarah W. Caron (aka scaron) is a food writer, editor and blogger who writes about family-friendly foods and raising a healthy family at Sarah’s Cucina Bella.