Clean out your fridge Vegetable Soup (Minestra)

Periodically I have an over abundance of produce in my refrigerator, some weeks I cook less often than others because of birthday dinners, family get togethers or eating out too often...I remember my mom doing this with leftovers just throwing stuff in a pot with some small pasta and creating a delicious meal...


Nothing I mean nothing got wasted in our house growing up for two reasons: one being there were always at least 10-15 people at the table several times a week and food went fast.  The other reason was I grew up with a dad that lived and served in WWII and food was rationed in Sicily so we were not ever allowed to throw away food, waste food or leave food on our plates (my waist and hips thank him profusely for that..Sarcasm


This soup is loaded with nutrients health in a bowl, low in calories and very filling. The key to making any really good soup is two things: the sautéing the aromatics (your base garlic, onions, celery, carrots) and using bay leaves (I prefer fresh ones) but the dried will work as well.  This produces a soup that you say WOW this is really good!!




Ingredients




2-TBSP Refined coconut oil, or 1/4 cup olive oil
4-Celery Stalks chopped
1-Medium Yellow Onion peeled and chopped
2-Large Carrots peeled and cubed
4-Garlic cloves minced
4-5 Yukon gold potatoes or what ever you have peeled and cubed if you use bigger potatoes then only 2
1 Head of Bok Choy washed and chopped or what ever you have in fridge!!
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)
2-32 oz Containers of Vegetable broth or water.



Directions




In a large soup pot heat oil over medium heat add your celery, onion, carrots, bay leaves and garlic.  Saute for approx. 10 minutes until they have softened a bit and the bottom of the pot gets a little brown (creates flavor) then add your potato, bok choy, salt and pepper.  Any vegetable that you pick you want to add in the beginning if it has a hard stem, and add any leaves towards the end so they don't completely break down in the cooking process (this is what I did when I added the bok choy).
Now add your broth or water. If you are using water be sure to add enough salt, the vegetable broth will have sodium(salt) in it, so you will use less if you use the broth. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes to one hour, it depends on the veggies used taste for doneness, and adjust seasonings.

Now at this point you could add some small pasta orzo, ditalini or just a huge hunk of Italian bread.  I would cook the pasta separately if you wanted to add it, the starch of the pasta thickens the soup if you cook it in there. 


Ladle into your bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of grated cheese....