A big pot o' soup

Thanks for the inspiration, Food Junta! Last night I got home from yoga and decided to use up the rest of my CSA box. I was fantastically successful! We were conducting interviews for the used-to-be-a-living-room empty room in our house, which meant I needed a meal that could just hang out while I participated in the get-to-know-you chatter. Food Junta gave me the idea of a soup with leeks AND onions, and I took it from there. I also got to use my new (enormous) soup pot, which was exciting.

Here's what I did:

Cut up half an onion and 3 leeks and sauteed them with some garlic until they got soft. I accidentally started boiling the 2 carrots and 2 potatoes I'd chopped up in a separate pot because I misunderstood the directions (duh), so I scooped them out of that pot and put them into the bigger one to saute with everything else. I also threw in the half of a cabbage head I had left over, chopped up nicely. After a few minutes I added a bunch of water & chicken stock (didn't have vegetable, which might have been yummier), salt and pepper, and a bay leaf and waited for it to boil. I also threw in a can of tomatoes for good measure. I dramatically underestimated how LONG this huge pot of soup would take to boil, and seeing as how I had accidentally cooked the potatoes and carrots a bit already, I decided to cut down on the simmering time and eat it after about 15 minutes. I toasted a few slices of the wheat bread I made last weekend, added some parmesan and TADA! Delish.

I'm also filing this under "recessionistas" because it can be made MAD cheaply. Basically with whatever you have in your fridge/cupboard. Also no expensive spices required! And I'm definitely getting at least 3 meals out of this. I brought some in a tupperware for lunch, and soup is always better a day or so after you make it. The flavors just soak in so nicely!

If I used chicken stock does it still count as veggie? :)