Minestrone Soup

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe! Funny, too, since we've actually tried a handful of new ones recently--I just haven't been in situations where it was easy to take pictures! Anyway...

We had plans to go out to dinner on Friday night, but when Nora and I were feeling as crappy as we did that day, we decided that we'd rather go on a night when I could fully enjoy myself. I really just wanted to stay in and have some good homemade soup.

I didn't want to go with our usual chicken noodle soup, so I went back to my saved recipes and found this easy recipe for minestrone soup from Katie at Good Things Catered. To my surprise, I discovered this weekend that Katie's blog is no longer up (does anybody know, did she get another book deal?) but I still want to give credit where credit is due!

This minestrone is chock-full of vegetables, which I love. I use low-sodium everything, so it's healthier than canned, store-bought, or restaurant soup, and it's still really flavorful. It's very easy to throw together, too--the most time-consuming thing is chopping all of the vegetables, which can easily be done in advance for a quick weeknight meal. We'll be making this often throughout the winter, I'm sure!

I skipped the napa cabbage because it's expensive at our grocery store (especially since the recipe only calls for 1/4 head) and I don't know that it would add much. But in case you feel so inclined, I've left it in the list of ingredients below. Aside from that, we used dried spices instead of fresh (and used less of them as a result), but season according to your taste.

Minestrone Soup
(Source: Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 4 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 head Napa cabbage, chopped
- 2 small zucchini, diced
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 2 tablespoons parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon oregano , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme, minced
- 28 oz. diced tomatoes
- 48 oz. low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (14 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup dry pasta, cooked
- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil and bring up to almost smoking.

2. Add onion, carrots, celery and salt and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 60 seconds.

4. Add cabbage, zucchini, green beans, parsley, oregano, thyme, tomatoes with juice and chicken broth. Stir to combine well, turn heat to a low simmer and cover and cook for 30 minutes.

5. Add beans, cooked pasta and simmer for 5 more minutes.

6. Salt and pepper to taste, let cool slightly and serve.