Backyard Blend

If someone were to ask me when I started cooking, I guess technically the correct answer would be 4-5 years ago. But the truth is I have been cooking long before that - just not with real food. I am interested to see if my baby brother would remember this, but when we were kids we used to cook up quite the soup in my Grannie's backyard. Kent and I would secure a 5 gallon bucket, fill it with water from the hose on the side of the house and get started on our Mud Soup. Mud Soup consisted of anything we could find to throw into the concoction, but always started with...... you guessed it, water and dirt. Leaves, flowers, berries, sticks, grass and bugs (only if Kent got those) were frequent stars of the show. We would fill up our bucket with the "ingredients" and stir vigorously using a plastic Wiffle Ball Bat. It was great fun and probably my first attempt at creating a recipe despite the fact that we never got to eat our final results.

When I was making this minestrone soup I was reminded of the Mud Soup "Cooking" sessions I shared with my baby brother because this recipe was just as easy. It consisted of roughly two steps - throw everything into a pot and stir. It was just like the old days, but with a more deliciously edible outcome.

Minestrone Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light November 1995

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, undrained
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
• 1 cup chopped leek, green part only
  
• 3/4 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup diced carrot
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• Parmesan Cheese, for sprinkling
  

Preparation

Place 1 can of kidney beans in a food processor, and process until smooth.

Spoon bean purée into a Dutch oven; stir in remaining can of kidney beans, water, and the next 10 ingredients (water through tomato sauce).

Bring to a boil;

cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the elbow macaroni;

cook, uncovered, an additional 10 minutes or until tender.

Serve hot with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.