Directions
1. Chop onions and drop in large pot with small amount of olive oil (~1tsp) over medium heat, stir to coat in oil
2. Mince garlic and add to onions
3. Chop and add celery followed by squash/zucchini. Stir onions, garlic and vegetables occasionally until onions are translucent. Add salt, oregano and/or basil to taste.
4. While onions soften begin chopping other vegetables
5. When onions are translucent add two cans of tomatoes and chicken broth. From this point, add more chicken broth or water as needed to cover.
6. Bring soup to simmer and add chopped kale.
7. Add cooked green beans, pasta, and beans if desired
8. Add carrots in last few minutes of cooking
9. Optional: grate fresh parmesan or romano over warm soup before serving
This is adapted from several of Meghan's Italian family recipes. All measurements are approximate because they don't measure anything when they cook - so feel free to experiment and change proportions and ingredients depending on what is available and sounds good to you! With any Italian recipe proportions and cook time don't matter, just keep adding ingredients and turn off the heat when everything looks and tastes good (: This soup is ready to enjoy when the vegetables are soft, the kale is wilted and everything is heated through
Tips: 1. If including beans it helps to make them in advance. I recommend starting with dry beans and doing the "quick soak" method: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quicksoak-dried-beans-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-198610
2. Adding the optional pasta makes this vegetable soup into a minestrone
3. We add the carrots last because we have found cooking carrots with the rest of the soup from the beginning can make the entire soup taste like carrots