French Vegetable Soup

Difficulty Level: Average.

Category: Side dish, Starter.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Yield (Make): 5 persons.

Cuisine: French, European.  

Besides French, Italian and Indian cuisine perhaps, some other most popular cuisines in the world are Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mexican, Spanish, Greek and Lebanese. Each of them has many tasty dishes to offer both the gourmet and the gourmand - even if they are vegetarians. Simple recipes with emphasis on different types of herbs give French cuisine a distinct flavour and taste.  

Though the list of ingredients of French Vegetable Soup appears a little bit long but not much effort is required prepare it. Moreover, the taste of this soup is very nice and it is useful as well.

Ingredients:

>> Black beans (sabot urad) - ½ cup.

>> Kidney beans (rajma) - ½ cup.

>> Shelled peas - 1 cup.

>> Mixed dried herbs - 1½ tsp.  

>> Garlic cloves - 2 nos.

>> Olive oil - 1 tbsp.

>> Onion (finely chopped) - 1 no.

>> Leek (finely sliced) - 1 no.

>> Celery stick (finely sliced) - 1.

>> Carrot (sliced into circular shapes) - 1 no.

>> Baby potatoes (peeled and kept whole) - 2 nos.

>> Zucchinis (cut into circles) - 2 small.

>> French beans (stringed and cut into pieces) - 100 gm.

>> 5 cups of water.

>> Tomatoes cut into quarters - 2 medium sized.

>> Spinach leaves

>> Sprigs of fresh basil.

>> Salt and pepper to taste.

Methods:

Soak the kidney beans (rajma) overnight and then boil in water with some salt till the beans are tender. Soak the black beans (sabut urad) for 2-3 hours and boil till it is tender.

Then boil about 10 cups of water in a large pan. Add the rajma, sabot urad and French beans and bring to a boil adding the herbs. Lower the flame and allow simmering till the beans are tender.

In the meantime, heat oil in another pan and fry the onions and leeks till translucent. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes. Now add this to the pot of simmering soup.

Also mix in potatoes, zucchini, and peas and continue to simmer, adding salt and pepper to taste. Once the potatoes are half tender mix in the tomatoes, spinach and allow the soup to simmer.

Once all the vegetables are tender and the soup has reached your desired consistency, check and adjust the taste for salt and pepper. The vegetable soup is ready.

Serve hot in bowls after garnishing with basil leaves.