Spring Green Minestrone
I had the best day on Saturday. Â Where did I go? Â Nowhere! Â What did I do? Â Nothing! Â When was the last time you said you had the best time doing nothing? Â I know! Â Sometimes I feel like my life is like a runaway train. And although I enjoy its active pace, I wish I took more time to sloooooow down. Â This past Saturday was going to be more of the same — squeezing in a workout, a big farmer’s market shop for my classes, watching Mr. Picky’s soccer and baseball games, and chauffeurring the girls here and there. Â But the universe gave me a big gift in the form of a torrential rain storm and everything was canceled. Â Thank you, thank you!
Mr. Picky stayed in his pajamas until 1:00 in the afternoon. Â I read more of the newspaper than just the front page. Â Daughter #1 and her adorable friend who spent the night would have normally met friends in town for breakfast, but hung around with us instead. Â They played as much One Direction music as we could take, baked a cake, and photographed every move for their 2,000 Facebook “friends” to enjoy. Â One thing for sure, I knew I would be making soup. Â I had an extra bunch of asparagus from Friday’s class, white beans and peas in the freezer, and a small bag of spinach. Â I had the makings of one of my favorites, Spring Green Minestrone. Â This is the soup I make whenever Spring rolls around. Â As much as I love hearty, chunky soups and stews, I like to leave those to the winter. Â Lighter, fresher soups appeal to me now, but ones which still have the ability to warm me up. Â And the combination of white beans and peas amounts to a complete protein, so I feel satisfied enough to eat this as a meal. Â But it’s all that GREEN that really makes me feel nourished.
The ingredients in this soup look like they couldn’t amount to anything special — there’s no secret ingredient, no flavor boosters. Â I’m even surprised when it turns out delicious. Â And the recipe is so dead simple, you have no excuse NOT to make your vegetable stock from scratch. Â This soup was one of the first cooked vegetable dishes that Mr. Picky actually ate a normal portion of. Â Saturday was no different. Â He dropped a piece of sourdough toast in his soup and ate every last pea. Â My husband poured the usual Pecorino in his. Â As for me, I embraced my bowl of springtime au naturel — perfect in its simplicity and which I ate really slooowly. Â I needed to make this special day last. Â Because although I heard it would rain again on Sunday, I knew that the chances of that happening were about as good as my kids getting a Coke with their lunch. Â And sure enough, Sunday’s sunshine came with places to be and things to do, but I got back on the train rejuvenated and restored and ready for it all.
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- 2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
- 2 leeks, washed well, white and light green parts sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen green peas
- 2 Tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 6 cups vegetable stock or light chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1 ½ cups cooked white beans, such as Cannellini or Great Northern, or 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (more if your stock is unsalted)
- 4 ounces baby spinach leaves
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.
- Add the asparagus, peas and parsley and toss to coat with the oil, leeks and garlic. Pour in the stock, white beans, and sea salt. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered until the asparagus is just tender, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach leaves and taste for seasoning. Don't be disappointed, but that's all you have to do!