Yummy vegetable soup

Carolina Vegetable Soup
Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Copyright 2001

3 tbsp olive oil
2 c chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c chopped carrots
1 c chopped sweet potatoes
1/2 c chopped celery
1 1/2 c chopped zucchini
1 c cooked lima beans– fresh or frozen I used frozen baby lima beans
3/4 c frozen corn kernels
1 1 /2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes I used a 14.5 ounce can of petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves I used dried
1/4 c barbecue sauce I used Sweet Baby Ray's Original
4 c water
1 tsp each salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley I omitted this
Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (optional) I omitted this
Chopped scallions

In a large soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the carrots, yams, and celery and saute another 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, lima beans, corn, tomatoes, thyme, and barbecue sauce. Stir for about a minutes, then add the water, salt, and pepper.

Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the veggies are tender. A few minutes before serving, stir in the parsley and hot sauce to taste.

Serve topped with chopped scallions.

Serves 6
_____________________________

Recently I saw an article online about how people who eat a lot of vegetables that contain carotenoids develop a more attractive skin tone. Well my skin tone could use all the help it can get. I am pale. Not that cool, vampire pale or that cute Irish kind of pale but the 'OMG! Are you ill?!' kind of pale. I won't risk tanning. Fake tans, while much improved over the years, still come up short as far as I'm concerned.

So, I've been upping my vegetable consumption in general and trying to get more of the red and orange vegetables in my diet. This recipe seemed like a good way to get some carrots, sweet potatoes and tomatoes in me and the barbecue sauce intrigued me. This seems to be a vegetarian take-off on Brunswick stew which I've never made since it seemed like a lot of work. This version is not at all much work and the result is absolutely delicious.

It had a distinct flavor which may have been the thyme. I don't usually care for thyme but I liked this soup so go figure. For some reason I keep adding thyme to things even though I don't like it so maybe that habit finally paid off.

I loved this right off but it was even better the second day. I regret not making a double batch of this but really, it's so simple to make, it will be no problem to whip up another batch sometime soon.

Oh, and baby lima beans? Very, very cute!