Minestrone Soup

So. I’m trying to pull myself together, nutritionally. We don’t eat really horribly, but there’s always room for improvement. When the baby was born, I gave myself until January 1 to eat as I wanted, and then I’d get back in the saddle. But then I lost all the pregnancy weight in a ridiculously short amount of time (a combination of nerves and witchcraft, I believe) so I moved the deadline to February 1. I was hoping I’d have a better handle on some kind of schedule, and also hoped against hope my appetite might settle down. Sadly neither of those has happened. Paxton is a generally happy little guy but he has no sort of schedule at all. One day at 6pm he could be asleep and we’ll be eating dinner, the next day he’s furiously angry and dinner is congealing on the stove, if it got made at all. As for my appetite….let’s not discuss that right now.

We have good intentions though, and a fridge full of veggies that are beginning to head south. It was the perfect time to make up a big pot of soup. Use up some veg and have some healthy food in the fridge that I could have for lunch, instead of salt and vinegar chips.

Minestrone Soup

2 tb olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups vegetable broth (or chicken)
1 15oz can fire roasted diced tomatos (or regular if you can’t get fire roasted)
1 15 oz can beans (kidney, romano etc) drained and rinsed
1 cup small pasta (I used tubetti)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 cups packed spinach, chopped
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the carrots, onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until the veggies are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add the broth, tomatos, oregano, and beans. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and simmer, stirring, until the pasta is cooked, 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat, stir in the spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

This soup will thicken if it sit, so if you make it in advance or have leftovers, no big deal, just stir in some additional broth or water when you reheat.

The best and only photo I have cause guess who was yelling? Hint: not me.