Vegetable Bean Soup

The neighbor’s daughter came over; she likes to come by and play with Ana – she pretends to be Ana’s mom, and Ana, well, she’s just the one year old that’s happy to see someone that’s not as tall as a building (I’m 5’7, but for her I am the Eiffel Tower ).

As I was getting things out of the pantry, the six year old neighbor asked, “What are you doing?!?”. I explained to her that I was cleaning out my pantry and that I was about to start working on a veggie soup. “SOUP?! – that’s not food! You guys need to eat pizza!”.

She later came up to me and again asked what I was doing. “Making soup”, I said. “That’s how you make soup?!? That’s not how my Mom does it.”. “How does your Mom do it?”. She went to my pantry, looked through it, turned around and asked me where my red and white cans were. At first I didn’t know what she meant, but after a few clarifications I figured that she was looking for the Campbell’s Soup can.

I told her that unlike her Mommy who works outside of her home, leaves at 6 am, and doesn’t come back until after 6 pm, I stay home where my kitchen is within a few feet of wherever I am, and while Ana naps I have time to go to my kitchen and whip up meals from scratch.

She stayed until I finished with the soup and then asked me if she could have a bowl now, and another one to go.

Couple days later her Mom came to tell me that her daughter wanted to eat her carrots, but only if they were cooked by Mrs. P. That girl knows what she likes.

Vegetable Bean Soup

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon basil
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups vegetable stock (you can also use chicken stock or just water)
• 2 large carrots, sliced crosswise
• 1 large potato, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• In a deep stockpot pour in the olive oil and warm it over medium heat.
• Add in the onions and garlic; season with salt and pepper.
• Lower the heat and cook it for about ten minutes, or until the onion is soft.

• Add in the rosemary, thyme, basil, bay leaves, and stir.
• Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the carrots and potatoes and cook for another ten minutes.
• Add the pasta, garbanzo beans, and kidney beans, and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

• Remove it from the heat, stir in a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and remove the bay leaves.