♫ Listening to: Kidnap the Sandy Claws by Danny Elfman ♫

One of my (gazillion) favorite things about Nightmare Before Christmas is that it can be celebrated at both Halloween AND Christmas. Since my family celebrates Solstice instead of Christmas (no, I don’t wear patchouli oil instead of deodorant), this is the type of dinners we eat during the holidays.

If you like Nightmare Before Christmas, you might also like my skeleton reindeer cookies and my frog’s breath soup.

This recipe makes ~6 large bowls of soup.

Vegan Snake and Spider Stew Ingredients

Dollhouse Shortcut Substitute 2 cans of beans for the soaked, cooked, and rinsed dried beans. Substitute 2 cans of organic diced tomatoes for the freshly diced ones.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

4 medium summer squash (I used zucchini)

6-12 organic tomatoes, diced (~2 pounds)

1 pound of Great Northern White (or Navy) beans, soaked overnight, cooked, and rinsed

4 cups veggie broth

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

8 ounces cooked spaghetti (if you avoid gluten, use gluten-free pasta)

10 black olives (I used kalamata olives)

Vegan Snake and Spider Stew Directions

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes over medium heat (or until onion softens).

Wash and chop the summer squash. Add to pot.

Wash and dice the tomatoes. Add to pot.

Add the veggie broth, beans, and spices to the pot.

Simmer the soup until the veggies are cooked.

Cut the olives to make spiders. The bodies of the spiders will be the closed end of the olive. The legs are made by slicing the olive lengthwise and then slicing them horizontally to make short legs.

Scoop one spoon of soup into bowls. Top with some rinsed spaghetti. Add another small spoon of soup.

Garnish each bowl of soup with a spider.

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