Johnny’s finally getting to the end of the various soups and stews we stocked his fridge with while he recovers, so I asked if he had any requests, and he said he’d like more minestrone. I love minestrone myself, so I was happy to make a double batch and keep some for us and pack up half for him. The last minestrone I made was a success ONLY after I adjusted the spicing, so this recipe includes the adjusted spices. We all like a bit of heat, so I added some hot chili peppers as well. Wow–is it EVER good. This is my new minestrone!

Three things I learned with this version:

1. Never add eggplant or mushrooms, which produce a minestrone with too many mushy vegetables. My earlier version with both these vegetables was based on a low-fat recipe I read somewhere, but, unless you fry the onions in bacon fat, all minestrone is pretty much low fat, so what’s the biggie.
2. Never add pasta. It sucks up all the broth and becomes a mushy mess.
3. If you spice your minestrone properly, you don’t need to top it with parmesan.

Here’s the recipe:

Vegan Minestrone

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 celery rib, diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 medium zucchini, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 medium potatoes (about 3/4 pound), unpeeled and diced
• 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups vegetable broth (I used BTB)
• 3 cups water
• 1 TBS dried rosemary
• 1 TBS dried basil
• 1 TBS dried oregano
• 2 TBS fresh, chopped parsley
• 1 TBS hot chilli peppers
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions