Minestrone Soup with Pesto

 

Rainy Oregon weather often times calls for a nice bowl of soup.  And this one is loaded with good stuff.  So if you are looking for something healthy and delicious you won't be disappointed. 

What You’ll Need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup onion, chopped

3 cups water

2 cups zucchini, diced

1 cup carrot, diced

1 can cannellini beans

3/4 cup celery, diced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

28 ounces canned chopped tomatoes, include liquid

2 garlic, minced

1/2 cup elbow macaroni

What You’ll Do:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add onion and celery sauté for 4 minutes or until just lightly browned.  Then add water, zucchini, carrots, canellini beans, celery, basil, oregano salt, pepper, tomatoes and garlic.

Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add macaroni, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes. Adjust spices to suit your taste.

Serve hot with a dollop of pesto.

Pesto Recipe

What You’ll Need:

3 tablespoons pine nuts

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1 clove garlic

1 pinch sea salt

5 ounces olive oil

What You’ll Do:

While soup is cooking make your pesto.  To make the pesto put the pine nuts, basil, garlic and salt into a food processor and blend.  Pour in olive oil and blend until smooth.

Hearty Broccoli Soup

My daughter loves this soup so much that she had four bowls full! That sure is a lot for a 10 1/2 month old. This soup goes well with both the sweet rolls (previously posted) and the upcoming fresh baked 'Peasant Bread'. This recipe is adapted from Grandma Kathy... thanks Grandma. Our whole family loves this, we hope you will too.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, chopped
8 oz of Earth Balance or other vegan butter substitute
1/2 cup flour
2 cups soy milk at room temperature
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Steam broccoli over two cups of water. In a large soup pot melt Earth Balance, add onion, celery and carrots; saute for 5 minutes. Add flour, stirring quickly. Cook for another 2 minutes. Slowly add the liquid from the broccoli, stirring constantly. Add broccoli and remaining ingredients. Mix well and cook over low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Stir often to prevent scorching.

Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Soup

A recent creation- this soup is creamy, sweet, savory and incredibly easy!







Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Spice Milk (recipe to follow)
2 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt

Blend all till creamy and smooth in Vitamix.

Pumpkin Spice Milk ingredients:

1 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds (also known as Pepitas)
4 1/2 Cups Water
Pinch Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
4 Tbsp Raw Honey (+/-)

First blend seeds with water, then strain through nut milk bag and reserve pulp.
Next, pour milk back into Vitamix and add remaining ingredients. Blend for a few seconds and taste. If you want, start off with less honey, and continue adding more until satisfied.


To learn more about the benefits of raw pumpkin seeds and raw sweet potatoes check out the links below.

http://health.learninginfo.org/herbs/pumpkin-seeds.htm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

* For those of you who would rather the soup be cooked, just leave the Vitamix on longer.