Cheesy Vegetable Soup: Guest Recipe from Deb

Today, I'm turning my kitchen over to Deb from Bowl Me Over for a recipe swap. A fellow Californian with similar food philosophies, she created a fast and easy vegetable soup, perfect for getting anyone to eat more vegetables! I love her combination of peppers, mushroom and zucchini among all the other yummy veggies in this soup. And like she says, it's versatile! Choose whichever vegetables you have available to you seasonally and make this soup.

Be sure to visit Deb at Bowl Me Over to see the dessert I shared with her this week!

Let me start by thanking Renee for the opportunity to share a recipe with you!  I'm "Souper" Chef Deb from Bowl Me Over.   Why Souper Chef Deb do you ask? Well, it's a little play on words as many of the recipes I write end up in a bowl and today is no different! The recipe I'd like to share with you is Cheesy Vegetable Soup.
 

 

You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this soup! Because we're getting closer to summer, I'm lightening things up and leaving out the meat, but just because it's meatless, don't think it doesn't bring the flavor.  This soup is mighty tasty AND it's done in just 30 minutes! 
 

 

Chopped veggies, cream sherry, vegetable stock and a couple of cheeses - goat & pepper jack. That and some spices round out this soup.
 

 

If you don't have these vegetables, add the ones you have in your fridge, kale & spinach would be a delicious addition, as would carrots, celery or corn - you'll need about 8-10 cups of chopped vegetables. In fact it takes longer to chop the vegetables then it does to cook the soup!

 

It's that easy and that delicious!  Here's the recipe - 



Cheesy Vegetable Soup
(get printable recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 bell peppers - red & yellow, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 16 oz. bag frozen peas
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup milk or half & half
• 1/2 cup cream sherry
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning

Directions

1. Begin by chopping all the vegetables and mincing the garlic.  When this is complete heat your stock pot over medium heat.  Add in the olive oil & butter.  When the oil is hot & bubbly, add in the onions & mushrooms.  Season with Italian Seasoning & red pepper flakes & sauté for about 3 minutes.  Add in the zucchini, peppers & tomatoes and saute another 5 minutes, lastly, add in the garlic and saute for another minute.  
2. Next add the flour.  Continue to saute and mixing it in with all of the vegetables.  Cook the flour for a couple of minutes until it becomes a rich honey color.  Then remove the stock pot from the flame and add in the sherry - return it to the flame and stir well, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan.  
3. Add in both of the cheese and stir to combine and melt the cheese.  Lastly, add the vegetable stock & milk.  Once the cheese is melted, add in the frozen peas and stir well.  It will just take a moment to heat them thru and voila!  The soup is complete! 

A little bit about me: I reside in Sunny Central California with my hubby, four dogs; a golden retriever, corgi and two poodles and a cat named Stella. When I'm not in the kitchen, I'm training my dogs (just kidding they are totally out of control!), hiking or running and in the fall watching football. You can follow me on my Blog, Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter.