By Leo Babauta
This is my favorite hearty soup.
- Various veggies, diced (you can use any kind that you like, but I usually throw in squash (butternut, though any kind is great), celery, carrots, corn, fresh spinach and broccoli — zucchini would be another good choice)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- A couple cloves of garlic, diced
- Vegetable bullion, 4 cubes
- 1 package pasta (any kind except the longer ones like spaghetti or linguini is good — I like the bow-tie pasta or shell pasta)
- 1 can each kidney beans and white beans
- 1 can stewed tomatoes
- water
- olive oil, a few tablespoons
- salt and black pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
Dice all the veggies and open the cans of beans (and corn if you’re using canned corn); be sure not to skin the squash — just scoop out the seeds and dice it up.
Heat up the olive oil in a large pot and saute the onion and garlic.
Throw in all the veggies except the spinach; stir and heat up until veggies start to get a little soft. Season veggies with some salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Throw in the beans, pasta, stewed tomatoes, and enough water so that the pot is nearly full (not all the way!); heat on high until boiling, then turn down to medium heat.
Mix vegetable bullion with warm water in a cup until dissolved, and pour into soup; boil until pasta nearly cooked. Throw in the spinach a couple minutes before the soup is done; when the pasta is cooked, the soup is done. Be sure to season with more salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste — you know when it is seasoned right when you taste it and say, “Oh … my … God!”
