Minestrone Soup

I love soup. There are so many different soups that I love so much, I could eat soup every day. But I have a hard time finding a variety of soup in a can that meets all my nutritional guidelines. For starters, many soups have a chicken or beef broth base, and being vegetarian, it's a no go. Then I have to filter out anything with MSG (monosodium glutamate), corn syrups and hydrogenated oils. Not to mention trying to find something that is nutrient dense and tastes good. So my solution is to make my own soup. I like to make large batches and freeze it in single portions for convenience. Most of us don't have the extra time each day to spend hours in the kitchen, so having a quick, easy, nutritious meal in the freezer leaves no excuse for you to even be tempted by the drive-thru.
Here is a recipe for the minestrone soup I made today. The original recipe is from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook (which I got at Borders for around $6!), but as usual, I didn't follow it exactly. So here is what I did.

Minestrone
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: about 1 hour

1 can kidney beans
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tomatoes, peeled* and chopped
3 Tablespoons chopped parsley
9 cups vegetable stock
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 turnip, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup sliced green beans (I used frozen)
1 cup macaroni elbows
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, parsley, beans and stock. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 30 minutes. (The original recipe said to simmer for 2 hours, but I didn't have that much time!)
3. Add the carrot, turnip, potatoes, celery and tomato paste. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, green beans and macaroni elbows. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with shavings of Parmesan cheese.

*To peel tomatoes: Cut a cross in the bottom; put into boiling water for 2 minutes. Plunge into cold water, remove and peel.

Helpful Tip: When I find a recipe that sounds good, I will make a little shopping list of all the ingredients I need. That way, when I decide to try it, I am ready to grab it and hit the store. If you have little ones, you know that when it's time for grocery shopping, it's a get in, get out event. You don't want to waste time looking up recipes or racking your brain to figure out what you need.