Making Homemade Vegetable Soup

A homemade vegetable soup recipe is a wonderful thing. It's just so much better than anything you'd get in a can. For one thing, only ingredients that you like end up in the appetizer recipes. Plus, you have the opportunity to make it much healthier. And, well, making something yourself is just more satisfying healthy recipes.

Making your own homemade vegetable soup is one of the easiest things in the world. And it's just so versatile. There are a ton of different kinds of vegetable soups — like minestrone, cabbage soup, chicken noodle,beef barley... and so many more.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped or minced
32 oz. low sodium tomato-vegetable juice (such as V8)
16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
¼ cup orzo pasta
½ teaspoon dried basil
Salt

Freshly ground pepper
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation Instructions
1. Fill a medium saucepan with water and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.

2. In the meantime, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once warmed, add the onion and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato-vegetable juice. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

3. Add the frozen mixed vegetables. Stir. Simmer until heated through.

4. Once the water in the medium saucepan boils, add the pasta. Cook until pasta is almost done; drain.

5. Add the pasta and the basil to the soup. Cook until pasta reaches desired doneness. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup in bowls and sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese.