This is my go-to winter soup recipe and my go-to vegetable soup recipe. It's the product of a slow evolution from this recipe in the March 2009 issue of Canadian Living: Hearty Vegetable Soup, which I've gradually modified to my liking. It's a pretty flexible recipe, actually, built on a foundation of tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and oregano. Feel free to use the root vegetables and legumes of your choice! Likewise, it can be scaled up or down. I usually make it in my 10-litre soup pot, which the full recipe fills about halfway, but I've also made it in a tiny, 1-litre pot!

It's vegetarian (and indeed, vegan), and forms its own delicious broth as it cooks, so there's no need for pre-made stock or broth. It does, however, require some significant chopping and stirring.

( Ingredients (in Imperial and Metric volume units) )
( Directions )

The original recipe suggests serving the soup with sour cream, which would undoubtedly be tasty, but it's equally tasty on its own. It also makes excellent leftovers - its flavor improves once it's been sitting for a while.