Minestrone makes a souperior meal

Veggies on the griddle, water and concentrated vegetable cubes on the back burner, minestrone blend legumes on the right.

I wrote a blog last year about the vegetable soup I usually make each week, and I really don’t have much to add to that. It’s just that my minestrone looked so beautiful as I was making it today that I had to take some more photos. I just love the blend of green, red, purple, yellow, orange and white.

Red cabbage

I have refined my skills a little, because I have learned to cook it just the right amount so that the vegetables don’t lose their flavor but are still heated enough to be soft. I also received some advice that a red cabbage is the most important ingredient in a vegetable soup, so now I always include one.

The second batch of veggies is sauteed while the
others simmer in the kettle.

The soup was already indescribably delicious, but if possible, it is now even better. And it doesn’t hurt to know that cabbage is incredibly healthy. Men’s Health website says: “One cup of chopped cabbage has just 22 calories, and it's loaded with valuable nutrients. At the top of the list is sulforaphane, a chemical that increases your body's production of enzymes that disarm cell-damaging free radicals and reduce your risk of cancer. In fact, Stanford University scientists determined that sulforaphane boosts your levels of these cancer-fighting enzymes higher than any other plant chemical.”

Of course, if I google just about any of the vegetables I use, I can find similar claims about their benefits. In summary, this soup makes me feel good when I make it and when I read about it, but most importantly when we eat it. It fills us up so effectively that we don’t feel the need for any dessert or between meal snacks. My stomach is happily at work for hours afterward, processing the complex chemicals.

Last summer, I started making the soup in Gig Harbor, too, buying some vegetables at the farmers’ market and the rest at the grocery store. A big pot of soup can last all week, and it’s great to know you have it when you’ve worked all day and don’t much feel like cooking.

It's all together now and just has to simmer for 10-15 minutes more. Test a few pieces to see if they are soft enough, but don't overcook and lose that fresh flavor.