Vegetable Soup

This past week has been cozy, soup weather.  I finally invested in a large stockpot... so I decided to make Vegetable Soup tonight.  I love making soup, because you can put WHATEVER you want in it!  You can use whatever you have in the fridge and pantry.  Next time I make vegetable soup, I'll probably end up using completely different vegetables.  My favorite soup to make is Chicken Tortilla Soup, but I didn't have what I need to make it to it's tastiest potential.  I think this week I'll be making Chicken Tortilla Soup, so stay tuned for that recipe.  I am going to list out exactly how I made tonight's soup, but feel free to add or omit whatever type of veggies suit your taste buds.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1lb bag carrots - peeled, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tomato, chopped
1 can green beans, drained
1 can sweet & crisp corn, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, Mexican style (do not drain)
3 potatoes - peeled, cut in small pieces
2 - 32oz low-sodium, fat free containers of chicken broth
4 cups water
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Ground Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

Directions
1.  Heat olive oil on a medium-high heat in a large 12qt stock pot.  Add onion, carrots and celery.  Saute for about 3-5 minutes.  Veggies should be starting to turn tender.
2.  Add broth, water and diced tomatoes with juice.
3.  Add corn, green beans, chopped tomato and potatoes.
4.  Add all the seasonings to taste.  Start off with 2 tsp of each (except pepper - only 1 tsp for pepper).  Taste your broth and add more to the liking of your taste buds.  I use more Ground Cumin and Chili Powder because I really like those flavors.
5.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low (simmer) and cover.  Cook for about an hour or until all veggies are tender.

Side Notes:
1.  Other veggies that would be great in this dish are mushrooms, squash, zucchini, parsnips, fresh green beans, broccoli.
2.  Beef broth would also make a great base for this soup.

I'm serving our soup with salad and biscuits.  This soup is great as a meal itself or start to a meal.  Have fun with this soup!  Hope you enjoy it!!