Minestrone

I’ve been reading a book off an on for the past month titled “Nourishing Traditions.” This book basically challenges the “modern diet” and teaches us the purposes of fat, carbohydrates, protein, etc and how they are used/not used within our bodies. It also goes in to detail about various types of carbs, fats, etc to show the health benefits of some, and why others aren’t as good of a choice.

I love this book because it gives me the why behind many nutrition questions that I have. Why are certain fats better than others, etc… Another cool thing about this book is that it has TONS and TONS of recipes in it! YAY! More recipes for me to try!

I will admit some are quite a bit out of my circle of interest (duck pate…. bleh) but many are regular recipes that use whole, simple ingredients. So, since it’s been so cold here I decided to try soup! This minestrone recipe was a great base recipe in which I decided to add more vegetables to beef it up, Kev and I like our soups more chunky 🙂

Minestrone

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts beef stock (I used the Meijer naturals brand)
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup gluten free pasta, crumbled (the book recommended a brown rice pasta, I used a quinoa pasta yum!)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 cups kidney beans, cooked (I ended up using 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
• salt and pepper to taste

I also decided to add a cup (each) of frozen peas and green beans)

Directions:

Pour broth, beans and vegetables in to pot. Bring to a boil. Check the package of your gluten free pasta to see how long it takes to cook (this will determine when you add it.) After the soup comes to a boil you’ll need to turn down the temperature to medium-high and let cook for 10 minutes. Add your noodles when appropriate.

Check your noodles to make sure they’re done, serve, and enjoy!