Golden Summer Harvest Soup
Ingredients
- 1–2 tbsp olive oil (or a neutral oil like grapeseed)
- 1 large yellow cooking onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red chili pepper, minced
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 large yellow zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced about 1/4" thick
- 2 handfuls yellow beans, trimmed and quartered
- 3 cobs yellow corn, kernels and milk
- 1 cup finely chopped celery leaf (OPTIONAL)
- 12 small leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 cup pumpkin purée (OPTIONAL—see note}
How To Make This Recipe
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Start by prepping all the vegetables and herbs, and have them standing by, ready to add to the soup as required.
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In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to turn translucent. Add the garlic and red chili pepper and cook for a couple more minutes, stirring from time to time. Sprinkle in the turmeric, salt and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring well. At this stage you're "blooming" the turmeric — cooking the rawness out of it and drawing out the flavour.
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Add the broth, then the zucchini, beans and corn. Stir well and bring the soup to a boil. Turn the heat to a simmer, then add the celery leaf (if using) and sage. Stir in the pumpkin purée if using. Cook for about 20 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Cook for another 10 minutes or so.
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The soup can be served as is, or you can puree it using an immersion blender for a smooth version.
Recipe Notes
- Remember that the vegetables you use in a soup are never an exact measurement. How much you use depends on what size you find at the market or what's needing to be used up from your pantry. Of course your own taste comes into play! Maybe you'd like extra corn and less zucchini. Remember that you're making your own pot of soup for yourself, not me. Maybe you have an aversion to turmeric or prefer to add curry too. Just keep in mind that significant changes could result in a soup that's so different from mine that it deserves its own name. In that case, congratulations, you're an intuitive cook coming up with your own dishes!
- For reference, the large yellow zucchini I used was about 10" long and 8" in circumference. If you use 2 smaller yellow zucchinis you could just halve them lengthwise before slicing.
- The pumpkin purée that I use in this recipe is the thinner, golden kind, not the thick bronze type you use for pies, and most definitely not sweetened and spiced pie filling! I like to use the pumpkin purée that I make from scratch, but I've also bought something similar in a box, not can.