Garden Minestrone

Yesterday, was a rough day. I had the first really bad knock your socks off headache in 3 weeks! It was a sunbutter and honey sandwich kind of night! It really is progress though because a little over a month ago I used to get that kind of a headache at least 3 times a week. I was always in the cycle of getting a headache, had one or was trying to get over one! I think one of the main triggers yesterday was staying up later than usual, driving in the dark rainy night with bright headlights and having a significant cranial chiropractic adjustment. I made it to the other end of the headache though and have this yummy soup to share that I made for lunch today!

This is my mother in law Faith’s famous minestrone recipe tweaked a little to make it migraine friendly. It makes a huge pot of soup that lasts for several meals. I usually make a batch of biscuits to go with it.

Ingredients

3 Tbs olive oil

2 leeks cut and sliced

4 cloves garlic minced

2 carrots chopped

1 zucchini chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can Navy or other small white beans

1 box of small sized pasta like Ditalini

4-5 cups water

Lots of dried basil (at least 3 Tbs)

Salt (More salt is needed than you might think because we are not using premade stock because they contain MSG. I recommend adding a little at a time, tasting the broth and then adding a little more until it tastes right to you),

Pepper to taste, ½ Ts ground fennel

Directions

In a large stock pot, sauté the leeks and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes, then add the carrots and zucchini and sauté until the leeks are soft.

Then add both cans of tomatoes and 4- 5 cups of water depending on how thick you like your broth.

 Add the seasonings.

Let the soup simmer and stir every once and a while.

Turn on the pasta water! Start the pasta! (I make the pasta separately as it makes a better leftover, I place some pasta in a bowl and pour soup over it.)

When the veggies are cooked through, add the rinsed beans and check flavor of broth add seasonings to taste.

When the pasta is cooked through drain it in a colander.

You can then serve your soup over the pasta!

If you have other people in your house that can have cheese they may enjoy Parmesan or Romano cheese on top. The rest of us have to go without. That’s ok though because this soup is still really good!