Comfort Food...Soup and Bread (Easy Recipes)

Happy Monday my friends.  I hope you're home and enjoying a bit of a slow down.  It looks like a very chilly week ahead here in New Hampshire. The only way I can cope with really, really cold days?  Soup!  I adore soup during the most frigid days of Winter. Thick, hearty, comforting soup. Vegetable Soup has always been one of my favorites and this slow cooker version is about is easy as they come!

There isn't a much easier meal than one that simply requires throwing all of the vegetables in the slow cooker, turning it on low and just going on about your business during the day!  When dinner arrives, lifting the lid and ladling out big bowls of piping hot, healthy, vegetable soup. 

I truly believe that the slow cooker is of the most brilliant inventions for busy families!  Ever! It's said that  Irving Naxon invented the slow cooker and sold it to Rival Manufacturing in the 1970s. That you Mr Naxon!  
Easy Vegetable Soup 

Ingredients

• 2 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 large chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 3 large celery ribs, chopped
• 6 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth - I used low sodium
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 can kidney beans or cannellini (optional), drained
• black pepper
• pasta, cooked and set aside (optional)
• pamesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add onion and garlic, cook until tender
2. Add remaining veggies except the tomatoes and beans (if using), heat until tender
3. Add tomatoes, broth, beans and veggies into the crockpot
4. Cook on low for 7-8 hours
5. Top with pasta and Parmesan cheese, if desired!

Oh and one more thing...Could I have an order of bread and butter with a side of soup? 

We made a delicious loaf of Lemon Rosemary Bread to accompany our soup! If you happen to have a bread machine around, this is a great recipe to try!  Fluffy, easy and delicious.  This bread is perfect served warm with a bit of butter. 

Easy Lemon Rosemary Bread Machine Bread
1 cup warm water
2 and 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary
3 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups all purpose flour
Directions:
Pour the water into the pan of a bread machine, then sprinkle in the yeast and sugar. Let the mixture sit in the bread machine until a creamy foam forms on top of the water, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the salt, then add olive oil, rosemary, lemon juice and flour. Set the machine for light crust setting, and start the machine.  4 hours later you will have a delicious loaf of bread! 

What I love about this soup and bread is that it's SO easy and delicious!  Perfect for a chilly Winter day!  Enjoy!