This refreshing and healthy spinach soup designed for vegetarians is adapted from the “Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook” by Lucy Moll. To make the dish flavorful, thick and rich without adding any cream or high-calorie/fatty ingredients, zucchini and potatoes are used to give it a wonderful texture and extraordinary flavor. Soy sauce, preferably the low-sodium variety, is used instead of salt. A light and comforting dish that calms the heart and nourishes the soul, this Spinach soup makes a stimulating starter to a vegetarian dinner but it’s also great as a precursor to meat, seafood or fish dishes. It can be served with some crusty bread, crackers, salad, or sandwich for a light lunch. Get more diet soup recipes here.

Water is used in this recipe but you can also use vegetable stock to make the soup even more flavorful and savory. If you have surplus or left over vegetables these are perfect for making a delicious and tasty vegetable stock. Simply sauté some chopped onions, carrots, and celery then add some fresh herbs such as parsley, chive, cilantro, etc. Add the water and simmer for at least twenty minutes, and you have a basic vegetable broth for use in this spinach soup recipe. You can also make a vegetable paste by using the same ingredients sans the water. Store the paste in a jar for later use. You can add this useful paste to almost any dish to enhance its flavor.

What’s great about this recipe is that you can make a lot ahead of time, place it in an airtight container, and freeze it for as long as a month. This way you have an instant comfort food anytime of the day. Whip this up on a weekend so you have a satisfying soup on busy weekdays when you have no time to prepare an elaborate meal.

Ingredients

1 onion (chopped)
1/2 cup + 5 ½ cups water
3 potatoes (peeled and chopped)
3 zucchini (thickly sliced)
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups tightly packed fresh spinach leaves
Pepper (freshly ground)

Pour ½ cup water into a large pot and place over medium high heat. Add the onion an cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft. Add 5 ½ cups water, the potatoes, zucchini, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes.

Add the spinach leaves and pepper. Cool for 2 minutes. Remove from the stove and puree with an immersion blender.

Place the pot back on the stove and heat for 5 minutes.