Root Vegetable Soup

I promised you all that I was going to try to recreate the soup I had in the Netherlands. It was so yummy and satisfying on that cold rainy day. Today was not a rainy day, but it was overcast and cool. (I am so sad that it seems that summer is almost gone. I am not ready for that.) Today seemed like a good day to make soup.

I know that I made it a little differently. I added potatoes and didn't put as much broth into the soup. Mine had a little more substance per bite than the other soup, but it still turned out great. I also substituted chard for the kale, since my garden is over flowing with the chard right now. I bought this broth in Germany that I used for the soup.

It is a clear broth but very tasty. The vegetable broth I buy here has a big carrot taste and this one doesn't. I might look in the soup aisle to see if I can find it here.

1 carrot, diced small

1 leek, chopped

1 small potato, diced small

1/4 of your standard grocery store red bell pepper (I used a really small one from my garden.), diced really small

3 chard leaves, medium size ones, chopped small

1 tbsp olive oil

5 cups water

3 tsp powder of broth

1/4 pasta

Heat the olive oil in the pot on med-high heat. Add the leek and bell pepper and saute until soft. Once soft add the carrot and potato, maybe add a splash of water to help soften up a bit. Then add the all the water, broth powder, and chard. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Simmer until root vegetables are soft. 5 minutes before serving add the pasta. Now I used the alphabet pasta because I let London choose. It makes eating a little more fun. In the restaurant it was the normal angel hair pasta bits. After eating both, it really doesn't matter. :) So good. London and I ate it up, Patrick wasn't home for it. (Don't worry, I'll make it again for him!)

The pasta comes in little bags and I always find it in the Mexican aisle, they also have little stars that are super cute.

That's another thing about kids. It doesn't hurt to make it fun for them. The whole option of alphabet pasta vs. regular pasta was left up to her, and why not give them a little choice. Now when it comes to giving them choices, don't become a short order cook. They need to eat what you eat and what you make. There are nights when London decides to push her luck and says she won't eat. I don't then make her something else, I say "This is it. If you don't eat this you don't eat anything." Some nights her plate stays on the table until close to bed time and then she eats it. But I never make her something else. This doesn't happen very often but it does happen and that is how we deal with it. Also if she doesn't eat a lot I leave her plate on the table until she goes to bed, because many a night she comes back and snacks while she's playing before bed. That way I know that if she asks for something to eat 10 minutes after I clean up I can point to the table and tell her to eat her dinner. It works.

Enjoy the soup!

Namaste!