Helen’s Minestrone – for your health!

This is my sister Helen. She’s pretty much a zillion times cooler than me. Flawlessly beautiful, smart, and a fabulous musician and artist to boot. The girl has it going on – top of her class at cosmetology school by day, debate club at Princeton High School by night. This is her senior yearbook photo. Did you have such a cool senior picture? No you did not.

And she’s visiting in England for FIVE WHOLE DAYS. Just when I was beginning to felt completely disconnected, the little half-pint swoops in to save the day. As soon as I found out she was coming, I went into a frenzy of planning, cleaning, preparing…

My friends are probably sick of hearing the countdown, “Three days until my sister is here! YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY, only 13 1/2 hours until she arrives!

But you know me by now. I’m an excitable sort.

Sometime this summer we were both stricken with a mysterious illness. Though we weren’t tested for it, I swear it was the ol’ piggy flu. It was horrible! I certainly empathize with all the people who are sick right now. Luckily I’ve been illness-free since this incident and skipped out on the Great American Swine Flu Panic of ’09 by moving away.

But when this happened, our family was off in France visiting relatives, so we were on our own in a giant house with only a bunch of whining cats to keep us company. After a few days of nothing but water and sips of Ginger Soother (highly recommended), we were finally well enough to sort out the business of eating. You’re probably all “ALEX. TMI.” but it sucked! And I know a lot of people are in the same boat right now.

If there was ever a time for emergency soup rations, that was it.

This soup features an abundance of fresh vegetables, plucked straight from the garden. What a rewarding feeling! How lovely, to take a basket and walk out the back door, returning with everything you need for a meal.

We put in two of everything, chopping the vegetables side by side, fitting in a lesson on knife skills and various vegetables. It’s got red chard leaves and stalks, working like celery and spinach, only with more fiber and nutrients. It’s also very loose with measurements. We just went outside, grabbed whatever we saw, chopped it up and threw it in.

With each serving of this soup, you’ll get a punch of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and so much more. That’s one of the things I love about soups…they’re like the ultimate heath food!

Helen’s Garden Minestrone

Makes enough to feed two petite girls for four days. Approx 3 quarts.

Ingredients:

2 potatoes

2 large tomatoes

2 bell peppers

1 large red onion

2 carrots

2 small zucchini/courgette

4 stalks chard, leaves intact

10 cups vegetable broth (we used Better Than Bouillon paste)

1 can white beans, drained

2 handfuls small pasta (we used little gluten-free brown rice pasta shells)

handful fresh parsley

salt and pepper

glug of olive oil

To serve: freshly grated parmesan and crusty bread

Directions:

Chop all the vegetables (first five ingredients) into bite-sized pieces.

Clean and wash the chard, taking extra care with the delicate leaves. Separate leaves and stalks. Chop stalks roughly and add to the other vegetables. Tear leaves into strips and set aside.

Put a very large soup pot on the stove, put on medium heat and pour in a glug of olive oil. Add the big vegetable pile, minus beans and chard leaves. Saute in the oil for about three minutes, until vegetables are fragrant.

Add enough broth to cover everything by one inch. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and cook for fifteen minutes, covered.

Add beans and pasta, the return to a boil. Cook an additional five to seven minutes. Add more broth if necessary or more beans and pasta to thicken.

Remove from heat. Stir in the chard leaves and parsley, letting the residual heat wilt them. Season with salt and pepper and finish with another glug of olive oil (a little fat is good for you!).

Garnish with freshly-grated parmesan and eat on the floor with your bestest friend in the whole wide world.