Vegetable and Bean Soup-with a vegetarian option

With at least 8" of snow on the ground I needed a big bowl of something hot, healthy and hearty, and this Vegetable and Bean Soup hit the spot! I have these ingredients on-hand most of the time and consider this a pantry recipe, spinach would be the only thing that might be missing, either leave it out or sub with cabbage or something else. By simply switching the chicken broth for vegetable broth this would easily become a welcome vegetarian dish.

This soup can be on the table in about 30 minutes and will be even better the next day!

Vegetable and Bean Soup-heavily adapted from budgetbytes.com
drizzle of olive oil, maybe 2 tsp
baseball size onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, big or small-you know what you like:@)
1 large or 2 medium stalks of celery, sliced
1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 can of diced tomatoes, with juice-I used a can of drained Rotel
2 C chicken broth or stock-Vegetarian swap: use Vegetable Stock
1 C water
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano, crush as adding to pot
1/4 tsp paprika
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
spinach, as much as you'd like-I added a couple big handfuls of frozen
S&P to taste-I had mushroom salt so that's what I used

1. Heat a soup pot, add olive oil and onion. Cook until onion starts to soften.
2. Add garlic, cook for a minute and then add the celery and carrot. Cook, stirring for a couple minutes.
3. Add everything except beans and spinach, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook gently until the veggies are tender.
4. Add beans, spinach and S&P to taste. Heat through.

Eat well and have a happy day:@)