HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  two-thousand what? 17?  NOOOOO.  you must be joking.  wasn’t it just 1999 like a year ago?  and we were all so young and stupid and afraid of silly things, like Y2K?

well here we go ~ another year, another chance to right the wrongs of 2016.

i don’t know about you, but my body is screaming at me.  it’s telling me to slow down, eat right, hibernate, and take long bubble baths.

so i am.

and i’m also absolutely living for hearty, warming, healthy soups and stews!!!!  i’ve made two this week that i think are serious home runs.  but before i tell you about soup #1 ~ i have to tell you what i did first, before any soup-making began.

i’m really happy about this.

i made two kinds of beans, garbanzo, and black-eyed peas, on the stove, in two separate pots.  and i’ve used them all week in various ways.  i roasted some of the garbanzo beans with chile powder, lime, olive oil and salt, and we crunched on them all day monday.  then the rest of them went into soups and salads.  and the black-eyed peas were a base for a veggie-bean burger that really hit the spot for a couple meals.  tonight, the rest of the black-eyed peas went into a vegan chili that was AMAZING!  you would never even miss the meat in this stew.  i’ll post that later…

but first!  here is a new, fresh, french take on veggie soup for your new year’s healthy ways!

this recipe was inspired by the ever-debonaire celebrity chef, eric ripert.  so dapper.  such a silver fox.  his fresh vegetable soup uses not ONE CAN.  and it shows, honey.  i know canned vegetables are so easy, but when you use fresh vegetables, you can really feel, see, and taste the difference.

i added and subtracted some veggies from his recipe, and changed the method to make it a little easier.  that’s all.

sadly, i’ve been working hard to fix my recipe template, but to no avail.  darn.  so here’s the recipe in its not-so-useful format.  sorry y’all.

VEGETABLE SOUP PROVENÇAL (pro-vahn-saaaaahl)

here’s what you need:

• 1 cup or more light-colored beans of your choice (garbanzo, navy, etc)
• a bundle of herbs tied up with a string (parsley, thyme and bay leaf are recommended)
• 1 box good veggie broth (a quart)
• 2-3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 fennel bulb, cored and diced
• 2 potatoes, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 6 oz. fresh green beans (haricot vert), stems removed and cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces (skin on)
• 3 roma tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 large handfuls fresh basil

directions:
1. prepare your beans separately if you’re using dried beans. i highly recommend them! they’re so tasty and still have all their amazing nutrients.  you’ll just use 1 cup or so, which means you’ll have beans for other dishes!
2. in a dutch oven, add the veggie stock, 4 additional cups of water, and the herb bundle.  bring it to a boil while chopping your veggies.
3. chop and drop (into the broth) in this order: the garlic, onion, potatoes, carrots, fennel.  let that cook on medium for about 15 minutes.

4. chop and drop your softer veggies in this order: greens beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and let simmer for another 10 minutes.  season with salt and pepper to taste, and remove the herb bundle.

5. add the beans and drizzle with a little olive oil for richness.

6. just before serving, finely chop some basil atop each bowl, and make it rain!  the more basil, the yummier!

ENJOY!!!