Vegan mulligan stew...

My dad would make "Mulligan stew" when mom needed him to cook. What that meant is he cleaned out everything in the fridge and added a can of soup. At least that is how I remember it. I decided after my family's resident vegan's left to do the same thing...it turned out so well, I recreated it tonight for school soup day. Start with heating Olive oil in the bottom of a large pot Add in about 2 tsp do whole cumin And 2 Tbl of minced garlic Let sizzle for a minute or so. Add in 3/4 cup of each of the following: Chopped red onion Chopped celery Chopped cilantro Sliced white button mushrooms Sliced baby Bella mushrooms Sliced leeks Baby zucchini sliced Red bell pepper chopped Baby carrots cut in to two diagonally Let all of this Simmer a bit Add in two cans of artichokes-not pickled- cut in 1/2 or 1/4 Add in 1 can of drained dark red kidney beans And 1 qt vegetable broth Salt to taste Add thyme to taste And just for fun I added 3 Tbls of olive tapenade. After it has simmered a bit, add a handful of couscous and let it cook. Take off heat and serve as is...I will admit that I do kick it up to vegetarian level for me and add grated cheese.