{meatless monday} — super simple one-pot veggie stew

simple is as simple does.

my birthday is on thanksgiving this year, did i mention that?!  i was born on thanksgiving, and every 6 years or so it falls on the day.  do i have an opinion about this, of course i do. i mean, it might seem cool to share your birthday with one of the bigger american holidays, but it’s actually not all that great. every year i have to plan my birthday around the turkey and quite frankly, i’m much better than poultry and my presence on the planet is more crucial, i feel.  alas, every year i kind of get forgotten about.  story of my life.  i’m not cut up about it, but this year i did decide that i would make it all about ME. whatever i want to do, i’ll do it.  and if that means staying home, making dinner alone, listening to my favourite music as loud as i want and taking like 3 naps before i meditate under my stars, well then by golly that’s what i’m going to do.

this year has been pivotal for me.  i have much to celebrate.  and i feel like birthdays are kind of like new years day.  like, it’s actually a NEW YEAR for each of us on a different day… you know?! anyway, it definitely feels like that for me this year and i want the chance to reflect, give thanks, and meditate in order to manifest what i want this year to look like for me… which mostly means being open to whatever the universe has planned for me 🙂

that had absolutely nothing to do with today’s meatless monday recipe. other than the fact that because since i’m planning on completely spoiling myself with some delicious food all day long, i must pinch some pennies during the week.  this means the crockpot gets a workout!  last weeks lentil soup was a hit – i had a few readers tell me they tried it and loved it.  my friend miss J put sweet potato in hers… YUM!

soups are such a great make-ahead meal and can be so unbelievably easy to make. i made this dish for some friends of mine when visiting in the rockies and it was such a hit that not only did i make it again for the roomie and myself, but when i went shopping yesterday, i bought the ingredients again. not a drop was wasted, i love that!

whole foods market prepares the perfect soup mix blend and it’s only 5 bucks!  add in some broth, some tomatoes, and some S&P and you got yourself some dinner.  i tossed in some cooked pasta for extra fun and a little texture.  the soup mix contains chopped :

– zucchini

– squash

– carrots

– celery

– onion

– potatoes

– corn

– cabbage

– parsley

kind of perfect, right?!

i thew in the can of tomatoes and the whole box of broth {48 ounces}

sprinkle in a healthy dose of S&P.  absolutely NO PREP here.  i opened the box, opened the tomatoes, and poured the broth.  took me all of 4 minutes to actually prepare this meal.  THANK YOU PRODUCE TEAM MEMBERS 😉

i cooked the pasta according to the package – i like the tiny little rigati, it’s just fun because it’s little 🙂

you can cook it ahead of time or wait for the soup to be done.  or you can omit it entirely.  i cooked mine ahead of time and just left it in the fridge until the soup was done in the morning.  i love cooking stuff in a crockpot overnight and waking up to the house smelling amazing. that’s what this time of year is for!!!

i alternate between the high and low settings.  i usually start on high to get things going, then switch it to low and cook for 6-8 hours.  if you put it on high, you only need to cook for like 4-6 hours.  you can go longer, but i think things get mushy if it goes for more than 10 hours…

i just added some pasta to the bowl first… then poured the yummy soup all over it…

nom nom.

finish off with some fresh spinach {it’ll cook right in the hot broth} and a little extra pepper {i love the stuff!!} i served mine with some mini pita rounds and organic butter.  the creaminess in the butter really made the soup flavours stand out.  as silly, weird, or whatever as it may sound – i liked to have a little bite of the bread and butter in my mouth THEN sip some soup…

SERIOUSLY YUM!

i’m grateful for my palate.

Tags: cooking, crockpot meals, easy, food, healthy, meatless monday, recipes, simple, soup