Game night

Yoga retreat is over, and I'm back to the real world. The retreat was great, and while I did miss Rob and the girls, I could have easily stayed a few more days!! It was peaceful, quiet, relaxing, and also a bit strange. All in all, quite and experience. I got to sample a few styles of yoga I wasn't familiar with, including laughter yoga, which was really fun and really brings you back to being a kid again. I also got to participate in some chanting (which admittedly was a little....ok, a lot strange), but interesting. And, as strange as it was I've been chanting "Wahe Guru, Wahe Jio" over and over all weekend, I can't get it out of my head.

As good as the retreat was, I couldn't wait to get home to eat. The location of the retreat left a lot to be desired in food options, especially for a vegetarian, and I was longing from some good vegetarian comfort food. So, I headed home Sunday afternoon, with a big ol' pot of vegetable soup on my mind.

It was game day, Colts vs. Patriots, so Rob had invited some friends over. In addition to the vegetable orzo soup, I made Dreena's Chipotle Lime 2 bean Hummus to snack on while waiting for the soup.

The soup was delicious. It was very rich and filling, and exactly what a hungry girl needed after a long weekend of eating crap. The recipe follows, but is merely my best estimate, as I didn't really measure anything and kind of went by the seat of my pants on this one.

Vegetable Orzo Soup

2 Tbs Olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced in half rounds
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 smal bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp tarragon
2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced about 1/2 inch thick
2 cups lima beans (frozen)
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels
1 cup frozen sweet peas
6 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water plus 1 cube vegetable bouillon (could also use 2 more cups of stock)
2 cups orzo pasta

Heat olive oil in large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots and saute for a few minutes before adding celery and onion. Saute until onion begins to become translucent, then add garlic, saute until garlic becomes fragrant and add in bay leave and other dried herbs and stir to combine. Add zucchini and saute about 2 minutes. Add limas, corn, peas and stir to combine well. Saute all vegetables for a few minutes until the thaw and begin to soften. Add in vegetable stock and water+bouillon. Bring to a boil and let simmer until about 5 minutes until ready to serve. During last 5 minutes add orzo and return soup to a boil to cook orzo. Once orzo is cooked, remove from heat and serve.

We've definitely found another soup for the long winter here!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.