Beet and Greens Soup

I arrived home feeling overwhelmed by the amount of last week's farm share still not processed. Meaning, if I didn't use it soon, it was gonna go bad. Now y'all know how much I love to waste food, so this was something I was driven to tackle. One challenge was that the freezer is now teeming with a plethora of meals, and running out of space quick! So I pulled out a big container of broth and some Hubbard squash from last season, to make way for a new soup. This one was going to successfully utilize some of those green tomatoes and lots of leftover greens. It was going to be more sweet than savory, and we were gonna once again, just wing it.

This is what I had on hand:

2 TB olive or grape seed oil

5 small beets 

(raw, peeled and chopped)

2 small beets

(leftovers already roasted partially and chopped, from the fridge)

3 yellow carrots

(orange ones work too!)

12 small new potatoes 

(half red/half yellow)

3 green Roma tomatoes

(chopped)

3 medium green tomatoes

(chopped)

1/2 eggplant

(peeled and cubed)

2 cups shredded zucchini

(this was already shredded from another recipe. Cube it, slice it... doesn't matter.)

2 cups frozen roasted Hubbard Squash

(a huge frozen hunk that I just let simmer in there until it broke apart. I helped it along by poking at it.)

1 large red onion

(3/4 of an onion, actually...)

3 gloves of garlic

(pressed, but you can chop it or mince it, too)

agave

(just a squirt)

Aardvark

(a few squirts)

black pepper

(to taste... we like lots)

sea salt

(to taste... didn't need much)

4 cups mixture of chopped beet greens and rainbow chard

(kale or collards would be good, too.)

20 oz of broth 

(I used chicken cause that's what I had on hand, but you could also use veggie, beef or just water.)

**I would have used chopped celery too, had I had it on hand. I like the sodium and flavor it provides and it prevents me from adding extra salt or seasonings. I like to keep it simple.

This is what I did:

Press garlic into large pot, with oil and heat on medium heat, stirring until fragrant. Turn up the heat a smidgen and add chopped onion, carrots, potatoes and eggplant and stir to coat. Keep stirring and allow veggies to soften - about 5 minutes. Add cubed beets, zucchini, frozen squash, broth, tomatoes and black pepper. Bring to a boil over medium to high heat, then lower temp and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add chopped greens, a squirt of agave, a few squirts of Aardvark (or not), and salt to taste. Stir and simmer another 5-10 minutes.

Variations

Provided you use water or veggie broth, this recipe is vegan.

If you so desire, you may add either goat cheese, cream cheese, sour cream or Greek yogurt before serving... or any of the vegan alternatives to these dairy delights. Garnish with fresh dill.

For more information on the benefits and nutrition of some of the ingredients I used, 
click on these links:

Beets and Beet Greens:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49

Hubbard squash:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=63

Carrots:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=21

Agave:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/agave-nectar-nutrition-facts.html