Minestrone Soup: What a Crock

So, I’m pretty much a cooking noob and I can’t believe I’m actually posting a recipe, but I’m super proud of the soup I made today with my new crock pot (courtesy my boss who gave me one she didn’t need).  It all started with the girls at the salon talking about crock-potting and how completely easy it was to use and about all the delicious recipes they tried, and me being a total foodie, I got interested.  My boss offered to bring in a crock pot for me that she got and didn’t need, and being “poor” I accepted.  (Hey, anything free is sweet in my book.)  She gave me a small 3 qt Rival brand Crock Pot.  So today on my day off I decided to give it a go and make one of my favorite soups: Minestrone.

This recipe is super easy and doesn’t cost a lot to make.  I had most of the ingredients laying around and picked up a few things from the store which cost me about $12 because I found all the sales (I’m trying to stretch my money further these days).  This is my own recipe that I compiled from a few different recipes…I took stuff out, added stuff, tweaked it here and there, made it vegetarian and this is what I got.

You’ll need:

• 4 cups veggie broth (you can use chicken or beef instead)
• 3/4 of an onion (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 stalk celery (chopped)
• 1 can cannelloni beans (drained)
• 1 can red kidney beans (drained)
• 1 can peeled tomatoes (diced)
• 1 zucchini (chopped)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 cup of a smallish pasta ( I used shells)
• 1 cup frozen green beans

Note: This soup can be made vegan by simply taking out the parmesan cheese.

So, combine everything (except for the pasta, zucchini and spinach) into the crock pot, give it a stir, and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.

BUT, 30 minutes before it’s done you gotta throw in the pasta, zucchini and spinach.

Oh yeah, take the bay leaves out before serving…I don’t think they are enjoyable as a whole (more for flava.)

OR you can do an all day cook, 1 hour on high is equal to about 2 -2 1/2 hours on low or so my directions tell me, so I guess just double the hours on low and leave it while your at work and come home to awesome soup!  Enjoy!

<3 mish

P.s my boyfriend said it was one of the best home made soups he’s ever had…and that means a lot because he’s an official soup fiend.