Hearty Cheese and Vegetable Soup

2020. The year that will become a chapter break in everyone's story but that starts, for me, like any January: cold mornings, back to school, back to work, the discipline of routine after the indulgence of holidays. I'm thirty-eight, turning thirty-nine this month. My children are in high school and middle school. My boyfriend is becoming my fiancé. My cooking program serves twenty girls. My kitchen smells like garlic and the Folgers can sits on the counter and the can is empty of the original blend but full of meaning and the meaning is: I was taught. I teach. The teaching continues.

Marcus is back at the magnet school, deep into debate season. He is fifteen on January 15th — fifteen! — and he looks like a young man now, not a boy. The baby face is gone, replaced by angles and the shadow of something that might someday be facial hair and the expression of a person who has read Bryan Stevenson and knows what kind of lawyer he wants to be. He is becoming. They are all becoming. And I am standing at the stove watching them become and the watching is the whole job now. The cooking feeds them. The watching sees them. Both are required.

Made a pot of vegetable soup — the January soup, the one that uses whatever's in the fridge, the anti-waste soup that Mama would approve of because Brenda Jackson never threw away a vegetable that could be simmered into something. Carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, a parmesan rind for depth. The soup cost almost nothing and fed us for three days and that is the alchemy of cooking: you start with scraps and you end with warmth.

This is the soup I make every January — the one that uses the carrots going soft in the crisper, the celery nobody finished, the potatoes sitting in the corner of the cabinet — and the version I keep coming back to adds a little cheese, because Mama always said fat is flavor and she was never wrong. When Marcus turned fifteen and the house felt full of becoming and the new year felt both ordinary and enormous, this pot was what grounded me: something warm, something generous, something that proved you don’t need much to make something real.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
1 cup frozen or fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 parmesan rind (optional, for depth)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
Add the vegetables. Stir in the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges just begin to soften.
Build the broth. Pour in the vegetable broth and add the diced tomatoes with their juices. Drop in the parmesan rind if using, then stir in the thyme and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Simmer until tender. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the green beans and continue cooking uncovered for 8–10 minutes, until all vegetables are tender. Remove and discard the parmesan rind.
Make the cheese base. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the flour and milk until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3–4 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar until fully melted and smooth.
Finish the soup. Pour the cheese mixture into the vegetable soup and stir well to combine. Simmer on low for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup is creamy and heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread or crackers. Refrigerates well for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Hearty Cheese and Vegetable Soup — The January Pot That Costs Almost Nothing and Feeds Everyone