Minestrone Soup

Yesterday I bawled my eyes out.

Amongst many other pressing stress issues going on in my life, one of the reasons I was crying was due to a lack of vegetables.

No joke and this is not pathetic; eating my vegetable variety is integral to my sanity.

I was unsatisfied with my eating habits for the week and it really hit me hard.

All week I was imagining a huge box of fresh vegetables just somehow appearing on my counter top so that I could make bounties of veggie stir-fries and veggie roasts and veggie soups. Unfortunately the vegetable gods did not hear my cry...so today I sucked it up and went to the store (aka today I made the time to go to the store).

I cooked up a HUGE pot of minestrone soup so that I could be eating leftovers for days. Take that, tears.

Break some bread, grate some Parm, and slurp some soup. It'll calm you down.


Minestrone Soup

10 servings
from Cooking on the Side

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias
2 small zucchini, trimmed and sliced into rounds
32 oz broth
2 cans (14.5 oz each) petite diced tomatoes, with juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
freshly ground black pepper
10-12 oz macaroni, uncooked
1 can (15.8 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, and zucchini and cook for 4-5 minutes, until veggies are soft-ish.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, oregano, basil, and pepper. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the white beans until heated through.

3. Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and rustic bread.