The Suburban Vegetarian: Baby, It is COLD outside!

Yes, I live in the deep south and my cold is no where near as cold as your cold but it is still cold to us!

And, in my opinion, there is NOTHING better on a cold day than a wonderful soup or stew. There is just something so warm and comforting about a bowl of hot soup when it is cold and yucky outside. Pair it with a crusty bread and that is heaven in a bowl.

As you will learn, a lot of times I use recipes as a guide but I often stray off the path and I think that is just about the perfect way to cook. Some recipes need to be followed to the letter... lots don't and soup is definitely a food you can play fast and loose with. And here is a really nice one to play with.

Ok first I will give you the full original recipe, just so you have it... and then we can go crazy. ;)

Minestrone

2 T olive oil
2 c chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 t pepper
1 celery stalk
1 medium carrot
1 c zucchini
2 c garbanzo beans
5c veggie stock
2 c tomatoes
spices/herbs to taste
small pasta of your choice

Saute onion & garlic in oil - 5 minutes
Add celery, carrots, herbs, spices. Cover and simmer - 10 minutes
Add zucchini and beans. Cover & simmer - 15 minutes
Bring to a boil, add pasta. Cook until done
Stir in tomatoes &v serve.

Ok, so that's out of the way... I don't do that at all. lol You ready? Here come the pictures.

So here is what I use.. the veggies can vary by your taste. I had a yellow squash so it's going in too. all the veggies get diced up. You want soup bite size pieces, or a little bigger if you want it more stewish. Up to you. I always put kidneys in my minestrone, I like it that way. Those were soaked/cooked from dry but the garbanzos were canned. Either way works just as well.

I had sauted the garlic and onion (less than called for because my family isn't so thrilled with the onion so we go easy). And here we have thrown in the carrots and celery plus spices and herbs. I used salt, pepper and italian spices.

This recipe calls for 5 cups of stock. If you are not a vegetarian/vegan you can use whatever stock you choose. Obviously I need veggie stock but in my area it's not always easy to find. I did find this though so if you need veggie options keep your eyes peeled for other things that will work.

So, I don't really do the adding the rest of the ingredients to the soup in little steps. I find it works just as well to dump it in. It's soup, you really can't screw it up. Here are all the veggies and tomatoes tossed in the pot. Let it simmer... well maybe a bit higher than simmer for a little bit.

Toss your pasta in. Whatever kind you like, on the smallish size. I found these adorable little pearls and thought they'd be perfect.

Just cook the soup until your pasta is done... you could cook the pasta separately but I rarely want to dirty more pans than necessary. And that is pretty much the end of it. My family likes it with a little parmesan on top.