Hearty vegetable soup

As promised, I am sharing my take on La Fromagerie’s vegetable soup, which came with a “cheese on the bottom” surprise.

It is a sumptuous little addition to an otherwise very quick and healthy soup full of colorful greens and, in it’s original version, also a bit of corn (another variation idea).

This October has been pretty special in terms of weather, hasn’t it?

It has been all sunny days, crispy leaves, and crunchy caramel apples.

And pumpkins, of course.

Tips: I did not use stock for this soup – it gets plenty of flavor from its ingredients. However, you can definitely use half water half vegetable stock, if you prefer.

Hearty vegetable soup

You’ll need:

– 3 carrots, chopped
– 3 small sweet peppers, cut into pretty thin rings
– 2 cups shredded young cabbage
– 1 cup chopped curly kale
– 1/2 cup chopped mustard greens
– 1 bok choy, chopped
– 1/2 t pink peppercorns
– 3 dried bay leaves
– juice of 1/2 lemon
– 1/2 t whole black peppercorns
– 1 t sugar
– salt (to taste, but I used about 1 T)
– sharp cheddar cheese – a good chunk for each serving

1. Bring a medium-large stockpot of water or stock (about 8 cups) to boil. In the meantime, prep all your vegetables.

2. Once the water has come to a boil, add the carrots, peppers and carrots. Also add corn here, if using.

Cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the greens (kale, mustard greens, and bok choy). Also add the bay leaf and the whole peppercorns here.

4. Cook for a few minutes, until the kale, bok choy etc are bright green. Add the rest of the seasonings and stir in.

5. Cook for another minute. Take off heat and cover.

To serve, place a good chunk of cheddar in the bottom of a bowl, then ladle very hot soup on top.