Garden Fresh Vegetable Soup

Total Time: 1 hr 55 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1/2 lb lean ground beef (optional)
• 4 slices bacon, diced (optional)
• 3 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or more)
• 6 cups assorted fresh vegetables (it gets fun here, suggestions are diced carrots and celery, sliced 3/4-inch green beans, diced baby)
• 8 cups beef broth (use vegetable broth if keeping this vegetarian)
• 1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 2/3 cup elbow macaroni or 2/3 cup spaghetti, broken into pieces (i use odds and ends of pasta at this point)
• 2 cups shredded cabbage or 2 cups spinach (what i use) or 2 cups swiss chard
• salt and pepper
• grated parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 crumble beef, if desired, into a 5-6 quart pot over medium heat; add bacon, if desired.
• 2 if not using meat, melt butter in the pot.
• 3 add onion, garlic and prepared vegetables and cook, stirring, until meat is browned and onion is soft; drain any excess fat.
• 4 add broth, kidney beans, basil, oregano and rosemary; bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, simmer for about 30 minutes.
• 5 add tomato sauce, tomatoes, and macaroni; continue cooking, covered, until macaroni is tender.
• 6 at this point you can cool the soup, cover it and refrigerate it to reheat and continue the recipe.
• 7 add cabbage and cook, covered, just until cabbage wilts, about 5 minutes.
• 8 season to taste with salt and pepper; serve and pass cheese to sprinkle over individual servings.