Servings: 6 Prep: 30 mins Cook: 10 mins Total: 40 mins
This recipe is long and complicated way for me to say, “Kids like fun shapes!”. While it happens to be a tasty vegetable soup, the main thrust of the recipe is that you can be creative with a knife and various cookie cutters which can be found in many stores, and VERY easily, online. I doubt there are many shapes that exist, which hasn’t been converted to a cookie cutter. For example, here is a link to a page showcasing unusual cookie cutters. Some of the highlights include feet, snowflakes, yoda, ninjas and the font “Helvetica”.
There isn’t much that hasn’t been converted to a cookie cutter. Did you notice that one of them was 3-D? Good times!
Ultimately, there’s a bit of extra time and effort that goes into cutting the shapes out of red bell peppers, thin slices of celery root and zucchini skins, but … if making a wing shaped carrot slice helps convince your kids to eat their veggies, then … perhaps it’s worth it? With any luck, your kids love veggies. If so, they’ll love veggies shaped like a giraffe even more!
Cutting Note: In all cases, I used very thin ingredients, so that they would cook in approximately the same amount of time. I cut the outside layer off of a zucchini, then used cookie cutters on that, for example. For the broccoli, I used the thick “stump”. I peeled off the hard, green and fiberous layer, then sliced the nice green center into thin strips, then used a cookie cutter. For the celery root, I peeled them, then used a flat mandoline to cut thin planks, then used the cookie cutters, etc. The idea is to get a thin “sheet” of something (about 1/4-inch thick), then use a cookie cutter to get the shape. Then, sauté in oil, add to vegetable broth and enjoy!
Waste Note: This recipe has a tendency to make extra waste. You can use the “leftover” parts to make adult soups, vegetable purees, save them for poorly cooked eggs the next day, etc.
Seasoning Note: I kept this simple, because I assume kids like simple. I’d personally toss some capers, olives, fresh tomatoes and some nice fresh herbs into it, as well!
Kids' Veggie Soup
Print RateIngredients
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp light oil (for sautéing ... such as coconut olive or ghee)
- 1/2 cup celery root peeled and cut into shapes
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper seeded and cut into shapes
- 1/2 cup carrots peeled and cut into shapes
- 1/2 cup broccoli cut into shapes and florets
- 1/2 cup green zucchini cut into shapes
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring your vegetable stock up to a simmer in a medium sized soup pot. Leave it simmering on a burner, while working on the next steps.
- Heat a large sauté pan over high heat.
- Add your oil to the pan. The moment it begins to ripple, add your vegetables to the pan. Toss the vegetables around in the pan, to coat them with oil. Also, season them well with salt and pepper.
- Make sure the vegetables are evenly distributed around the pan, so most are touching the bottom of the pan, to get a little caramelization. Once the vegetables start to get a little color, toss them around, again. Sauté them for about 5 minutes, or until mostly cooked.
- Add the veggies to the simmering vegetable broth and allow to simmer for about 1 more minute.
- Taste the broth and adjust for seasoning.
- Serve!
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