Rice and Bean and Vegetable Soup-VEGAN-

I made this up last night for dinner had some leftover rice from the night before and thought about what I was craving yes even vegans get cravings I just felt like some hearty soup.  What I used


1.5 liters of water
750-1000ml cooked rice
1000ml of spinach which I rough chopped
2 cans of diced tomato around 600 ml
1 large can of black beans 300ml
250ml frozen peas
60ml banana peppers chopped small bits- I used pickled variety half of this in jalapeno peppers"fresh" would work as well.
8 sticks of celery sliced thin
If I had some would have added 2 small onion or one large diced.



Seasoning added to water. all were dry nothing fresh
45ml chili powder
30ml Keg Steakhouse seasoning just a herb and salt mix folks using it up from the pantry
15ml onion salt
Pink Himalayan sea salt roughly 2 teaspoons its a grinder mill so just guessing on this one.
15ml oregano
10ml rosemary

Thickening:
Corn starch and water equal parts 60ml of each and dissolve


So I started off with just heating up the water, added the seasoning and than threw in all of the other ingredients.  I cooked this at medium heat a slow simmer stirring occasionally for roughly 1hr.  Once you feel confident all the stuff has cooked to your liking and the soup is simmering slowly add the cornstarch and stir while you add cook for additional 5 minutes to cook off the starch flavor and enjoy if you want it thicker always could use more cornstarch. 
Optional ingredients for this as it is kind of Chili soup some baked tortilla strips could be used to top things off and some vegan cheese grated.  I do not use either of these so in my case omitted.

However I did enjoy some Gluten Free Beet crackers and some sliced cucumber and guacamole.

Adding more veggies go for it this was what I had around the house and in the fridge.

 I'm gluten free and low fat for the most part but you could also make a roux base with flour and oil.

This of course makes a lot of soup so you could freeze some or just have leftovers for a few days or invite some friends over for a little get together and show them that being vegan is not tasteless or doesn't fill your belly.

Great source of protein and carbs and many other beneficial properties from the veggies.

Also with not having a salty processed stock to start off with I know exactly how much salt I used and everything else that went into it. 

You may think it sounds like I used a lot of salt but in reality I was flavoring 6 cups of water that is 1.5 liters.

Also a hearty bowl of this homemade concoction will only ring in about 220 calories per cup so having a large bowl no worries.  Calories mainly from rice and beans.

This is something that works well when the weather is crappy and you just want something to warm you up.

God Bless.