Teacher Cooks Edition! Minestrone-ish Soup

You know when you find a recipe and once you try it, you can’t imagine how you ever lived without it? Well, Poor Girl Eats Well’s Not Quite Minestrone Soup is my new damn-near obsession.

It is ridiculously easy to make and I’m sure it will help keep us healthy in the upcoming cold and flu season.

Plus, it’s dairy free and full of Israeli couscous. So really, what could be better?

Without further ado, I bring you Not Quite Minestrone Soup.

minestrone soup

 

Recipe is so close to the one from Poor Girl Eats Well, click over there to see what’s up.

Not Quite Minestrone Soup

Serves 6-8

Ingredients Notes:

I always use canned diced tomatoes. Ruby won’t let me keep fresh tomatoes in the house because she eats them too fast. Since she hasn’t quite figured out the can opener yet, we’re safe for now.

The zucchini was in one time and out another without a huge difference. One time I totally forgot the spinach and it was still delicious.

Remember how I’m totally obsessed with Israeli couscous? Well, I still am and therefore double the amount in the recipe making more of a stew and less of a soup.

I’m pretty sure there isn’t any way to mess this soup up.

What to do:

Make it often. I will be sad when it is too hot to eat this soup.

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What’s for dinner at your house these shorter, cooler days?

Not really feeling this recipe? You can always visit the recipe archive for more dinner ideas.

Photo Credit: Me

Teacher Cooks Edition! Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous

It’s fall on the calendar and damn it, I will eat soup even when it is 90+ degrees! Maybe it is cool at your house.

Funny thing is that I am not much of a soup person so it’s no wonder I keep adding couscous to all my soups and basically turning them into something that tastes like soup, but you chew it. In any case I’m a fan of all the adding couscous to soup action happening around here.

Maybe I just like the extra calories. Hmmmm.

Without further ado, I bring you Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous.

 

Recipe is based on the one from Regina’s Vegetarian Table.

Vegetable White Bean Soup with Israeli Couscous

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1 1/4 cups of white beans, rinsed { I used 2 cans of white beans, rinsed}

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable stock

2 to 3 quarts of water

2 tomatoes chopped (I used one 14 oz can with the juice}

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 small squash, sliced (I used zucchini}

3/4 tsp group cumin

3/4 tsp chihi power

1/4 tsp seasoned salt

pinch of fines herbes or Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

1 box Israeli couscous – about 1 1/4 cups

What to do:

Prepare the beans if using dry by soaking them in water over night or at least 2 hours. I used canned so I drained and rinsed them well.

1.  Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender.

2.  Add vegetable stock, water, beans, and all the vegetables.

3.  Add spices and the couscous then simmer over low heat for 3 to 4 hours or over night in the slow cooker.

All of us enjoyed this with multigrain crackers because we love carbs.

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What’s for dinner at your house these shorter, cooler days?

Not really feeling this recipe? You can always visit the recipe archive for more dinner ideas.

Photo Credit: Me