Minestrone Soup & A Meme

With the nippy, windy fall weather that is so prevalent these days I was craving a big bowl of hot soup with hearty vegetables. This is a perfect fit : absolutely filling and satisfying in every way and it's very healthy and low-fat to boot. It's easy to make too and it develops it's flavor by slow simmering so it doesn't need a lot of tending to, just some stirring occasionally.

I got this recipe from the Allrecipes website and followed it pretty closely except for the amount of tomato sauce since I only had tomato puree on hand... The amounts in the recipe makes a ton of soup... of which I froze half and we were still left with a big pot of yummy soup.

I'd also like to send this as my entry to WYF: Diet Food hosted by Hima.

MINESTRONE SOUP

Ingredients:

Onions - 2 medium, chopped
Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
Celery - 2 cups, chopped
Carrots - 4 to 5, peeled and cut into small cubes
Zucchini - 2, cut into cubes
Yellow Squash - 1, cut into cubes
Vegetable Broth - 2 cups
Water - 3 cups
Tomato Puree - 1 can
Kidey Beans - 1 can, drained and rinsed
Small Pasta - abt 3 to 4 tbsp (dry)
Green Beans - 1 can, drained and rinsed
Baby Spinach - 3 cups, rinsed and coarsely chopped
Italian seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Dried Oregano and Basil - 1/4 tsp each
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 1.5 tbsp
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese - to serve (optional)

Method:
1) In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and add onions, garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Then add the chopped celery, carrots and chilli powder. Saute this for another 5 minutes or so.

2) Next, add the zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, kidney beans, spinach leaves, tomato puree, water and vegetable stock. Add the dried herbs and salt.

3) Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes. Next, add the dried pasta and let it simmer another 20-25 minutes until the pasta is cooked.

4) Drizzle the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil on top of the soup and serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

I've been tagged for the Fantastic Four Meme by sweet Richa ... so here goes:

4 places I've lived:
Madurai
Singapore
Georgia, USA
Washington D.C., USA

4 Jobs I've had:
CBLC Supervisor - This was at the Computer Based Learning Center in the University.
Gave Tuitions - for a brother and sister on Saturdays for math and science (8th and 11th std). Systems Analyst
and now a Business Process Analyst.

4 Favorite places I've holidayed:
Every trip that I took with my family: the long train rides, the bargaining with limited Hindi words, learning numbers in Gujarathi so we could figure out which bus to take back to my cousin's place, the many adventures (some good, some bad), seeing all the places that one reads in the history books, eating at roadside dhabas etc.

Phuket - loved the beaches, water sports and food.

Florida - just carefree driving and we visited so many places: Key West, Orlando, Kennedy Space Center and Daytona beach

Ashville, NC - A cozy bed and breakfast with breath-taking nature walks and the beautiful Smoky Mountains.

4 Favorite foods :
Gobi Manchurian
Pav Bhaji & all Chaats
Parottas and all their variations
Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu
(It's a pity that I've got to stop at 4... there's just too many on this list)

4 Places I would rather be:
At home with my husband and daughter OR
My parents' home (madurai) - i just automatically relax when I'm there.

4 Bloggers I'd like to tag:
Tee
Padma
Viji
Kribha