It's been a roller coaster ride of emotions. First I was angry. I usually keep it in an outside pouch on my suitcase, along with a backup phone charger, but neither were in their trusted spot. I'd checked my bags on my travels to and from OK and I was livid at the thought that they had been stolen. I eventually found the phone charger elsewhere, but after making my parents ransack their home, the camera cord was still nowhere to be found.
To remedy things, I turned to the trusty wonder that is Amazon and ordered a replacement cord. Waiting in anxious anticipation, I was thrilled when the replacement arrived in the mail. My anticipation quickly turned to disappointment upon learning that I ordered the wrong cord. Curses. The roller coaster finally came to an end when I was visiting my parents over the weekend. I was helping them take down and pack away all the Christmas stuff and low and behold, the missing cord resurfaced. Victory! So, now that I have regained access to my photos and without further ado, my first non-dessert recipe of the new year: Minestrone Soup.
This weekend aside, it's been frigidly cold in the District since my return and nothing has sounded better than a nice, warm bowl of soup. I'm not a huge fan of canned soups and was really itching to get my crock pot out and back in the swing of things again. Unfortunately, I ended up finding a stove top soup recipe that I just couldn't pass up, so my crock pot will lie in wait a while longer. My favorite part of this recipe was getting to break in some of the new kitchen tools I got for Christmas.
One of my most exciting Christmas gifts was a new knife set. Aside from a decent paring knife, I'd previously been using a cheap set that I bought at Target during my college years and they were simply not cutting it any more (partial pun intended). The only drawback of my new knife set was how many times I managed to cut myself during my first day with them (clearly not used to a razor sharp blade in the kitchen). That aside, they have been a wonderful addition to the cooking process. Equally as exiting was my new garlic chopper toy. I purchased this during my trip with TF to see his mom post-Christmas. As I mentioned briefly in my last post, she owns a kitchen goods store (also known as my version of an adult toy story) and in addition to helping TF pick out goods, I found some things for myself as well. One such find was this amazing garlic roller chopper [my words for it]. I don't know how I lived so long without this thing. It's tiny so it stores well, but with it's giant tonka-like wheels, it does wonders in minutes. Hello perfectly minced garlic! I had so much fun using it that I was almost sad when everything was prepped and ready to cook (which was super easy, fast, and muy delicioso).
Easy Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Serves 8-10
- 2 Tbsps olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 cup fresh or frozen green beans
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Waiting for the magic to happen
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot. Add onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned
2. Add in zucchini, green beans, and diced tomatoes. Stir in vegetable broth and water. Add beans, macaroni, oregano, and basil
3. Simmer until vegetables and macaroni are tender-about 35 minutes
4. Season soup with salt and pepper and serve warm. Garnish with Parmesan cheese, if desired
Outside TF's mom's store (with her festive-holiday creation)...I love a good photo op
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