Hearty Minestrone For Soup Season

Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The act of combining various ingredients in a pot to create a nutritious, filling, simple to make meal was inevitable. Healthy and healing soups are part of the cooking traditions in every country.

Try and prepare your soup from fresh, organic, in season, and ideally local ingredients. Whether your ingredients are coming freshly grown from your own garden or you’ve bought them directly from the farmers’ market, making the connection between the food you eat and your local environment is important. The food we eat is part of our cultural identity. Eating local foods helps produce a more resilient and sustainable future, both for yourself and for future generations.

Cook Once - Eat Twice

Cook up batches of your favourite soups and freeze in portion sizes. You will find a plethora of simple creamed soups or more intense bean type stews to choose from on our site.  All of them are very affordable even on a low budget. You can add some grains to the bean soups, or serve all of them with fresh salad or steamed greens. Soup, can in fact be a meal in and of itself. This is Bill's absolute favourite.

Marlene’s Week-Night Dinners

Hearty Minestrone Soup

1 cup ditaloni pasta
2 sachets umami instant stock paste
8 cups filtered water
2 cups cooked kidney beans
2 cups cooked borlotti or pinto beans
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
2 onions, diced
2 leeks diced,
4 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, diced
1 courgette, diced
2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
1 jar Sacla vegan tomato pesto
½ tsp. dried basil
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger juice
2 tbsp, tamari or shoyu
3 tbsp nutritional yeast

Instructions

Cook the ditaloni according to the instructions and set aside. Mix the hot water with the umami sachets and set aside. Place a splash or two of water in a heavy soup pot and saute the garlic and onion over a medium heat.  When the onion begins to sizzle, add a pinch of sea salt and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in leek and celery, carrot and courgette and sauté for a few minutes.  Stir in the cooked beans, sun-dried tomato paste, stock and dried basil along with the vegan pesto. Cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook until vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add more water if required.

To serve:

Stir in the cooked macaroni, nutritional yeast, ginger juice and tamari. Serve in warmed bowls and enjoy with some of your favourite crackers.

Chef's Note:

I soak all my beans overnight with a small piece of kombu and pressure cook them. For my quick meals for busy people classes – purchase pre-cooked organic beans.

Enjoy good health daily.