A little soup is good for the soul

As Mike said to Bella in Twilight:

"Hey Arizona, how you likin' the rain, girl?"

The almost constant wet weather is now firmly rooted in the middle of its second week.

I could quote another Twilight gem here, I suppose, as a prelude to this post:

"...Under a near constant cover of clouds and rain..."

We have a high-energy Irish terrier/Irish wolfhound cross, whose wiry fur seems to absorb atmospheric water vapour like a sponge, who doesn't quite know what to do with herself. 

There's been a lot of inside pillow lying with wistful stares towards the garden through the misted up windows interspersed with bouts of wild passage "fetch" sessions to release some of the pent-up energy.

Meego: "Le sigh."

This rather wet Autumnal weather has also led one of the bi-peds in the house to have cravings for soup at the oddest times of day, like, for instance, breakfast time.

Since I have never really been one to quarantine food stuffs to particular times of day (dessert makes a perfectly good breakfast on occasion), soup for breakfast really isn't half bad (at least its healthier than dessert for breakfast).

Enter the magic helping blades of the food processor.

Just bung whatever fresh vegetables and herbs you have in your fridge into the bowl; blitz to the desired consistency; throw in a soup pot; cover with boiled water; add seasoning and 30 - 40 mins later; you have a tasty wet weather cure for whatever grey-sky blahs ail you.

Carrot, green bean, red pepper, Swiss chard, basil, lemon thyme, bay leaf soup
(with a fried egg for Simmy)

Sweet potato, carrot, green bean soup
(with hidden shavings of pecorino cheese melting at the bottom of the bowl)

Vegetable Minestrone

Before the recipe, a lesson in etymology:
The word minestrone originates from the Latin word minestrare meaning: "That which is served."

You're likely to be familiar with the popular version of minestrone soup, which includes vegetables, beans, meat (and sometimes also noodles). But minestrones range from thick soups with heavily cooked-down vegetables, to lighter broths with vegetable pieces (sometimes with a meat and/or bean base).

Regardless of its modern day ingredients, the style of soup (or zuppa) is reported to have come from Italy, and belongs to the style of cooking called cucina povera (poor kitchen); meaning dishes which have rural or rustic roots. It's a make-do-with-whatever-ingredients-you-have-on-hand kinda soup, and I love it for that!

As a German proverb says:
"It's better to have no spoon than to have no soup."


Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 2 large potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 450g butternut
  
• 10 green beans
• 1/8 tsp garlic flakes
• 2 tsp salt crystals
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (whole)
  
• 8 fresh basil leaves (whole)
  
• 2 small, very mild green chillies (chopped with seeds)
  
• Garnish: fresh basil and chives
• Optional: raw cashew nuts and olive oil
  

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables into small pieces and toss into a medium sized pot.
   
2. Add the salt, garlic flakes and very mild chillies. Also add the fresh rosemary sprigs and 8 basil leaves (whole).
   
3. Pour over just enough boiling water to cover the vegetables and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the two rosemary sprigs, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh basil and chives.
5. If you'd like to enrich the soup, you can drizzle it with olive oil and toss in a palmful of raw cashew nuts.
6. This recipe makes enough for four people.

Buon Appetito!