I love making big batches of dense vegetable soup that have as much stuff in each bite as possible and will last a few days. I've always loved vegetable soup since I was a kid but I got tired of the processed soups that are just canned water and the amount of vegetables in the entire can seems like it can be counted on two hands. I wanted to make my own and pack as much nutrition into each batch as I could so that when you poured yourself a bowl you were certain it wouldn't waste your time. It started out mostly for the utilitarian purposes of getting as much nutrition in with as little time-investment as possible, and have the soup last a while. I went online and looked up botanical resources to learn what vegetables tended to have higher concentrations of which nutrients. But once I started cooking it and getting familiar with the tastes and colors of the different vegetables in the market I started to see the art in it, so it's fun now too.
I sautee some onions, leeks, or shallots a little bit and toss in the rest of the hard vegetables so they have some time to cook and get softer, usually celery and carrots. Then I add either vegetable broth or miso stock as a base and bring it to a boil (miso if I'm craving more salt), and I add bay leaf to it. Then I reduce it to a simmer and add my greens nearer to the end so they don't get too cooked or wilted. The greens are the coolest part because I can change up the recipe all the time depending on what looks good in the market and there are lots of options. It'll be chard, kale, spinach, cabbage, or something. When I pick out greens I try to go for the things with the most potassium and fiber. Sometimes I throw in shredded chicken near the end if I have some laying around, that's always good.