Vegetarian Soup Topped with Gynura Leaves August 13 2013

 
I have not harvest from the garden for almost a week -- so many tomatoes and beans were just screaming "pick me!" So I did. After collecting an abundance of beans and tomatoes I decided to make a vegetable soup. I also added other veggies I have laying around the fridge and vegetable broth as base. Making soup is one of the quickest ways to use all the overstocked or overripe ingredients since they are not as pleasant eaten raw.

There are almost no rules when it comes to making soup or broth. You can use any ingredients to your preference and as much of them as to you like. Keep in mind the longer the soup is cooked, the softer the ingredients will be so they may fall apart. That's why I prefer keeping the vegetables in a larger size. Below are the ingredients I used for mine.

Ingredients:
1 can of vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup of beans (if you are using dried beans, let it soak overnight in filtered water to speed up the cooking time)
5 carrots (cut to large bite sizes)
3-4 tomatoes
1 onion (would be tasty, I just didn't have one to add to my soup)
1 cabbage (cut to desire size)
3-5 Gynura Procumbens leaves for each bowl you serve
sea salt (for taste if desire)

To Make:
Cut all vegetables to your size preference. Place carrots, beans, onion, and tomatoes in a pot then add the broth. Boil over high heat with lid off. Until soup comes to boil reduce heat to medium-low and let it slowly cook to soften. Put the lid on at this point. It may take 30-50 mins to cook until everything is mostly soft. Remember to come back to check on your soup from time to time.

When everything is mostly soft, add cabbage and a little dash of sea salt. I recommend not to make your soup very salty as it is better for your health. Too much salt also takes away from the sweet flavors that come from vegetables.

Before serving, cut thin slices of Gynura leaves to place on top on the boil. You can stir them in as you eat. It's good to add this ingredient last so it won't get cooked. *Enjoy!*