Winter "Salad" = Homemade Vegetable Soup

I don't make salads much in winter...

Instead, I often eat my daily vegetables in the form of homemade vegetable soups. The soups contain many of the same vegetables I would put in a salad... tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, spinach, celery, onions, garlic.

This is my basic recipe:

1. Lightly fry 1 or 2 chopped onions and several carrots in a little olive oil. Add garlic - either several whole cloves or a tablespoon of minced - and half a cup (or more) of chopped celery. (When I buy a bunch of celery, I like to chop the whole thing, freezing what I don't use fresh.
2. Add 4-8 cups of vegetable stock. (I freeze the stock when I cook vegetables, so I always have a lot on hand.)
3. Add a large can of tomatoes and a can or two of cooked beans. Sometimes I also add sliced zucchini, green beans or spinach. Recently I substituted dry beans for the canned cooked beans. I soaked the dry beans for 24 hours, draining and changing the water every 8 hours or so. Using the drained dry beans, I had to simmer the soup for an hour and a half to two hours.
4. For seasoning, I add about a quarter cup of medium salsa to the soup while it's cooking... more or less to taste. I could add other herbs and spices to taste, but I often don't.
5. When it's done, I freeze the soup in individual portions. That way I always have some on hand. 

I enjoy the warmth of a bowl of soup in winter, either as a meal by itself or as part of a larger meal.