When people ask what my favorite comfort food is, chicken noodle soup is not on the radar. I don’t know if I had too many cans of Campbell’s growing up or too many home cooked and Italian meals to know the difference but I thought I would share the recipe with you. Minestrone soup for me is the perfect combination of my Italian roots and my mommas home cooking. Lots of Italian flavors with lots of yummy organic veggies and broth. So here it is 🙂 Enjoy!

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
4 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
4 cups vegetable broth (if you don’t mind the chicken or beef flavor this Bone broth is awesome for your immune system. You could do 1/2 veggie, 1/2 bone broth)
2 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans, drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I like to sub White Linen pasta sauce from Costco for the tomatoes)
1/2 cup carrot (julienned or shredded)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups hot water
3 drops Young Living Oregano essential oil
2 drops Young Living Black Pepper essential oil
2 drops Young Living Basil essential oil
1 drop Young Living Thyme essential oil
4 cups fresh Baby Spinach
1/2 c small shell pasta
I also add 1 cup of pasta sauce to give it a little extra kick of Italian goodness 🙂

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, herbs (if not using essential oils) salt and hot water.
Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat, add essential oils and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.
Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings

Made these quesadillas last night from a recipe on health.com to help eat up the zucchini from my sis in laws garden and daddy wasn’t home so we didn’t have to worry about making a dish with meat in it 😉 They were better than I expected and both boys gobbled them down!

1/2 c canned black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbs salsa

1/2 c finely chopped zucchini

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas

4 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

*For my gluten and nightshade allergy adjustments, I ommited the salsa and used onion and cilantro with lime juice and salt instead. I also used teff wraps instead of regular tortillas.

Preparation

1. Combine beans and salsa in a small bowl; mash with a fork. Stir in zucchini. 2. Layer 1 tortilla with half the bean mixture, sprinkle with 2 tbs cheese, and top with another tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas, bean mixture, and cheese. 3. In broiler or toaster oven, cook quesadillas 1 minute on each side until cheese is melted and bubbly.