cheesy vegetable soup

Today’s Tuesday To Do list is short and sweet because we’re living it up “Pura Vida!” style in Costa Rica: MAKE THIS SOUP!

It’s cheesy. It’s vegetables. It’s all yours.

CHEESY VEGETABLE SOUP

1 large package frozen vegetable medley

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 cups stock (chicken or veggie)

1 can condensed milk

cheese(s) of choice, shredded

sriracha or other hot sauce

butter or olive oil

salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Add 1-2 tablespoons butter to Dutch oven or large pot (I call mine “big blue!”) over medium-high heat.
2. Add diced onion and stir occasionally while onions soften.
3. When onions just start to brown, add garlic and stir into onions.
4. Dump bag of frozen veggies in and one cup of stock. (you may want to add more depending on size of bag — I used a jumbo bag and just added more liquid. You can also wait until veggies have cooked to decide if you want/need the second cup of stock.)
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until veggies are softened, but not mushy.
6. Remove from heat. Either use an immersion blender (worth the buy!) to partially blend soup, leaving chunks of veggies OR allow soup to cool a bit then blend in batches until you’ve done about half of the soup and return to chunky veggie mix.
7. Pour condensed milk into pot and stir — remember you don’t have to use the entire can. It all depends on how thick you like your soup. You can’t really mess this one up!
8. Add CHEESE. I just grab a few different kinds (cheddar, pepperjack, etc.) and add a handful at a time until it’s as cheeeeeeesy as I’d like it. You can also skip the cheese, up to you.
9. Season to your liking with salt & pepper, add a little sriracha or other hot sauce, a few drops of lemon juice if you’d like (this really brightens it up!) and top with ANYthing you can think of: bacon, green onions, croutons.
10. EnJOY.

Sarah’s Notes

• Use regular milk if you do not have condensed milk — although I have not made it with alternative milks, you could substitute your milk of choice as well.
• The cheese is up to you, I like to use a couple handfuls, but I’ve also made it with a couple slices of cheddar when I was low, and that worked too.
• If you don’t have stock, you can use boullion as well, just prepare with water.
• ANY veggie combo works, but I like the one with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and squash.
• You can purée part of it like I do and leave some veggies whole for texture, or purée all of it for a smooth, creamy soup. (or purée none!)
• As with all my recipes, use this as a guide — you may like your soup thicker so you choose to use a bit less stock and/or milk. After you make it a few times, you’ll figure out just how you like it!