Last Week's Minestrone

 Minestrone

Noun: A thick soup containing vegetables and pasta.

I make a big pot of "minestrone" almost every week.  There 

are a bunch of reasons I do this:

My kid will eat it and it is full of vegetables!

It is a huge pot of soup that we can have meal after meal!

It's full of protein and fiber!

It's delicious, yummy, good for you and it really fills you up!

It's really quite easy to make!

It freezes easily!

What do I put into my minestrone?

Olive oil

stock or water

Onions (yellow onion or fresh spring onions or leeks)

Celery

Carrots

Garlic

Potatoes

Green peas, corn, squash, green beans, etc

Kale, chard, collards - lots of chopped greens

parsley

tomatoes (fresh, frozen, or canned)

tomato paste or sauce

garbanzo beans, white beans, kidney beans

red lentils

orzo, pasta, barley or rice

Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Really, this could be called "what's in the pantry and refrigerator" soup. There are so many options and you should use my list only as a guide. Be creative and add vegetables you love and know you will eat.

The base of the soup beginning to cook - olive oil, onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.

1.  Chop an onion or two, chop a bunch of carrots and celery (at least a cup or two of each), and chop or press some garlic.

2.  Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large soup pot and heat gently. Add the onions and saute for a bit.  Then add the garlic, carrots, and celery.  I let this cook until it begins to soften up.

I added chopped squash and potatoes to the base of onion, celery and carrot.

3.  I added chopped fingerling potatoes and chopped squash to the base of onion, celery, carrots and garlic and cooked a bit longer to soften everything up.  This is the time to add things like green beans, green peas, corn, etc.

4.  Add about a quart of vegetable stock and about a quart of water to the pan.  Turn the heat up and begin to bring the soup to a boil.  If you are adding a grain like barley to the soup now is the time to throw it in.

Why do I have a photo of red lentils on a minestrone blog post?  Read on to number "5" and  see why.

5.  I almost always add 1/2 cup of red lentils to my minestrone soup as it comes to a boil.  Red lentils should be rinsed well until the water runs clear.  I add red lentils to the minestrone because they bring a richness and thickness to the soup.  They are full of protein.  They are full of fiber.  They cook down and blend into the goodness of the broth and when you eat the soup you don't even know they are there.

6.  Add about 4 tablespoons of tomato paste and 2 - 3 tablespoons Italian seasoning to the pot.  You can purchase Italian seasoning in the spice aisle of any good grocery store.

7. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, 2 - 3 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes, or a couple handfuls of whole frozen tomatoes.  Yes, whole frozen tomatoes!  Grow some tomatoes, pick them, wash and dry them and toss them in a gallon plastic zip lock and store in the freezer to use all year long.  You can have summer goodness the entire year.

Here's a photo of my gorgeous Roma tomatoes from summer 2012 straight out of the freezer.

The soup is beginning to boil and you can see the tomato paste and whole frozen tomatoes on the surface. Here's the deal with whole frozen tomatoes.... they still have their skin.  I don't like to feel the tomato skin in my mouth when I eat the soup.  Once the tomatoes have heated I pull them out with a slotted spoon and skin them (really, the inside pops right out of the skin if you pierce them with a knife), chop them and put them back in.

7.  After the soup has come to a boil and simmered for 20 minutes or so I add canned beans, the chopped greens, and fresh parsley.  Don't skimp on the greens.  You can add cups and cups of chopped greens to the soup ---- don't be stingy.  The soup and your body deserve all the green goodness you can give it!  I used two small bunches of collard greens for the green goodness in this particular soup.  These poor little collards had been sitting in my frig waiting for something I wasn't getting to. I am so glad they found their way into the soup!

8.  If you are adding pasta add it in when you think the vegetables are really done.  Pasta will cook quickly and if you put it in too soon it will cook down entirely.  Don't underestimate how BIG the pasta will get and how much of the liquid it will absorb.  I only use about 1/2 cup of pasta in an entire huge pot of soup.  I really like to use orzo.  If you are watching your weight or carbohydrates I would just leave the pasta out and use a good grain like barley instead.  

9.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once I've ladled a big portion of soup into a bowl I usually shake some balsamic on top.  It adds flavor and richness.  So yum!

Here's a photo of my minestrone lunch.  It was delicious.  We froze a big bunch of this soup and took it in the cooler to the mountains on vacation for a post hike dinner.  It kept the cooler cold and then was thawed and ready to eat by the third evening!  Delicious.

There are so many options for making minestrone.  Go to your local Farmer's Market  and choose things that look good or different!  Load your soup with as many vegetables as you can.  Eat lots of this soup!