Vegetable Sausage Soup

This soup is one that I came up with last fall to use up some yellow squash and zucchini from my garden.  I made it tonight with the intent to use up the carrots that seem to be never-ending.  Let’s face it, four pounds of baby carrots is a whole lot of carrots!  You could use whatever vegetables you have on hand, really. 

The ingredients (since I don’t really measure, all measurements are approximate):

Smoked sausage (the package is just to show what I used since I had already chopped it)
Water
Carrots
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
1/2 tsp Onion powder (or chopped onions)
Diced tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (missing from picture)
Some type of noodles (also missing from picture)

I start by sautéing the sausage right in the pot that you’re going to use.  I was just making enough for my husband and me for dinner, so I used half of a package of sausage.  You don’t need to add any oil to it because it has plenty of fat.  Let it cook up until it starts shrinking.  Stir it around every once in a while.

Then add all of your chopped vegetables and seasonings.  Add enough water to fill the pot, or at least to cover everything up good.  Let it simmer for at least an hour, adding more water if needed.  I let this cook for probably about an hour and a half and it was just right. 

The next step is adding the noodles, so make sure that you have enough water and that it is simmering.  Add some noodles.  I used rotini tonight because that box was already opened.  You can use anything.  I also don’t like to add very many noodles, probably about a cup for this batch.  I pretty much just use enough to make my husband feel like he’s eating something more than vegetables. 

Speaking of him and vegetables, he is not a vegetable eater.  He has Crohn’s Disease and most vegetables do not agree with him, especially broccoli and lettuce.  This soup, however, he can eat without a problem.  In fact, he really likes it. 

If you feel like you still need more vegetables, serve this with a salad on the side.  I polished off the last of the romaine and tomatoes from the last baskets along with this.  I also served it with crescent rolls.  Grilled cheese sandwiches would be good with it.  It really is a light meal and makes use of a lot of vegetables.