Vegetable soup

Chop the onion into small bite-sized pieces.

Smash the garlic cloves to release their oils, then chop and mince.

Chop the celery, extra fine if its stringiness bothers you. Rinse the carrots, leave them unpeeled, halve or quarter the larger ones and cut into moons, not too thin.

Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high until it shimmers. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and starting to brown, about 10 minutes (much less over a very hot flame).

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes.

Add the carrots, celery and garlic and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; turn the heat down if the garlic starts to burn.

Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.

Mince about a tablespoon of fresh thyme. Add two 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes with their liquid and the thyme; stir and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to cook off water and concentrate the flavor.

Stem and trim the green beans and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Add 6 cups of vegetable stock, the potatoes, the green beans, 1.5 cups of frozen corn and a few bay leaves. Season with a teaspoon of salt and pepper, taste, and add a little more salt.

Bring to a boil, reduce to medium-low, partially cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, 10 minutes to half an hour depending on size; check every 10 minutes.

Stir in chopped parsley and about 1.5 cups of frozen peas at the end. Remove the bay leaves and serve.