Very Veggie Soup (Rainbow Soup)

I can't believe I leave for Colorado tomorrow!  I'm so excited to see Denver and hike Longs Peak!!  The place we're staying has a very nice kitchen so I might even be able to get you a blog post!

In case I can't, I wanted to make sure I posted something before I left.  Have you ever heard the expression that in order to get the right fruits and vegetables you should eat a rainbow everyday.  Well today I have a soup that's almost a double rainbow!  Of course there are no blue veggies, though I could have added an eggplant for a touch of purple.  It started out with some beautiful peppers and I couldn't decide what color to pick, so I picked them all.   I'm always trying to make my food colorful! Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 Cloves Garlic
1 Green Onion
1/2 Tbsp Oregano
1/2 Tbsp Basil
1/2 Tbsp Parsley
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
10oz Mushrooms
3 Carrots
4 Peppers
2 Yellow Squash
2 Small Heads of Broccoli
4 Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Tomato Paste
4 Cups Veggie Stock
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic.  Saute for a few minutes until it starts to get fragrant. 

Add the green onion and cook for a few minutes. 

Next add the seasonings.  I liked adding them at this point so they could open up more and add more flavor to the dish.  It really made the house smell amazing! 

Add the mushrooms and cook down until the water evaporates from them. 

Like this:

Then add the veggies as you dice them.  First I diced up the carrots.  I made them smaller so they'd get soft faster. Add a pinch of salt and pepper too!

I stirred that well and then started dicing the peppers.  Once they were all cut up, I added them to the pot and realized I was quickly running out of room! Add another pinch of salt and pepper!

Before I added the yellow squash I moved everything to a bigger pot!  Now that's much better right! Keep stirring everything up with each new addition.  Keep adding small pinches of salt and pepper along the way.  Just don't over do it!

Next was the broccoli.  I kept some of the pieces bigger for more of a crunch. 

Lastly I added the Tomatoes and the tomato paste

Stir everything up well and add the broth.  You can add more than the 4 cups if you'd like it soupier.

Cook on medium until you're too impatient to wait any longer.  Or, if you're not ravenious, you could cook it on low for about 30 minute or more to really let all of the flavors blend well.

We ate this out on the deck under the heater.  There was a bit too much red pepper for me, but the Husband loved it!  I think a potato would have been great in here too! Any combination of veggies would be great, add your favorites!