Vegetable Clear Soup with Broccoli and Carrots

Today I bring to you a hearty vegetable clear soup or veg clear soup for babies and kids.

Many kids do not like the taste of vegetables. I have seen kids removing vegetables out of rice dishes, vegetable gravies and even noodles  Vegetables for sure sound nutritious but feeding that to kids is a different story all together. If you wish your kids eat vegetables without being fussy about it, then vegetable clear soup is something you probably want to give a shot at.

Clear soups are very light and easy recipes. They may look a little difficult to prepare at home as we are used to cherish them mostly at restaurants. I used to wonder how to make vegetable stock for clear soups. I don’t like to buy vegetable stock cubes available in the market. The recipe I am sharing today has a wonderfully tasting vegetable stock which can be relished as soup on its own.

This soup can be served to babies above 8 months. The soup can also be given to kids recovering or suffering from any illness as they are very light on stomach and high on liquids (to avoid dehydration).

The recipe has two steps. First is to make the vegetable stock and then to combine it into the vegetable soup.

Benefits of vegetable clear soup with broccoli and carrots:

We will be using the cruciferous vegetables – cauliflower and broccoli which are considered as cancer preventive veggies and have a good amount of Vitamin K.

For the proteins, we have peas and beans. They are also excellent source of ant-oxidants. I have used the fresh peas. In case fresh peas are not available, one can use frozen peas as well.

The green leaves added as part of stock give a lot of medicinal benefits. Coriander is very good for eyes and helps to maintain proper digestion.

Vegetable clear soup with broccoli and carrots – preparation method:

Wash and clean the vegetables. Boil the mixed vegetables with garlic and green leaves with water for 15 minutes or until the vegetables turn tender. Strain the vegetables out and vegetable stock is ready for use.

Heat oil or butter in a pan. Sautee carrots for a few minutes. Add broccoli followed by vegetable stock, salt and sugar. You can also add black pepper powder for enhanced flavor. Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes.

For babies, puree the entire mixture in a blender or give the clear vegetable soup omitting the chunky vegetables and corn flour.

I served this soup with boiled elbow pasta and both the kids loved it.

PrintVegetable Clear Soup with Broccoli and Carrots Author: Neha C Prep time:  15 mins Cook time:  25 mins Total time:  40 mins Serves: 4 cups Ingredients

• For the Stock:
• Mixed vegetables like carrot, cauliflower, peas, french beans, broccoli – ¾ cup diced in small cubes or grinded coarsely
• Green leaves (coriander or spinach) – 2 tablespoon
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• For the visible part of the soup
• Broccoli florets– 2 tablespoon finely chopped
• Carrots– 1 tablespoon finely chopped
• Brown sugar or normal sugar – 2 teaspoon (Optional)
• Salt to taste (I have used rock salt approximately 1.5 teaspoon)
• Vegetable oil or butter - 1 tablespoon (quantity can be reduced also)

Instructions

1. Wash all the vegetables properly (suggest to use vinegar or salt water to wash the veggies for kids). Scrap out the carrots, clean the cauliflower and broccoli
2. To make the stock, boil the mixed veggies along with garlic & green leaves with 4 cups of water. Let the stock boil for 12- 15 minutes till the vegetables are tender over medium heat. Please use a big vessel to make the soup. Once done, strain the liquid and the vegetable stock is ready
3. In a separate pot, heat the oil or butter and add the finely chopped carrots. Let it cook for a minute
4. Let us add the chopped broccoli and cook it for a minute
5. Add the vegetable stock, sugar and salt. Black pepper can also be added for added flavor. Let it boil for another 4-5 minutes. In case, your little one do not like chunky veggies in the soup, you can use a blender and serve the puree as well
6. Vegetable clear soup with broccoli and carrots is ready

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Serving options:

• Boil some pasta and mix with soup. Let the mix boil for 2 minutes and serve
• You can use any vegetable mix to make the soup and the stock
• In case, you want a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon of cornflour mixed with little water when you make add the vegetable stock to the pan.
• One can avoid the broccoli and carrot, add salt & sugar to the vegetable stock. This can be served as a clear soup too.

Hope this simple recipe will add some variety in your regular menu.

Further reading:

• How to help your baby love and eat vegetables?
• 7 healthy soup recipes for your baby
• Vegetable soup with spinach and sprouts

Do share your version of vegetable clear soup in comments so that we all can learn new recipes.

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