Loaded Vegetable Minestrone Soup

As soon as the cooler weather hits, I cannot get enough of soups and stews. (Mainly because I am always cold. I am currently sitting here typing in big slippers, drinking a hot tea and basking in the hot pack that I heated up purely just to keep me warm... oh and I am preheating my bed with a heating pad.. for real) Fortunately, over these last few years, I have built quite the collection of tried and true recipes that I continue to make over and over again!This past weekend in particular, among everything else I did, like getting our backyard ready for winter, doing groceries, completing over 5 hours of schooling, I managed to whip up and simmer two delicious soups! Today on the blog I am excited to share with you one of my favourites! This original recipe I found on the Culinary Ginger website, but with most recipes I find, I make my own additions and changes to create it just how I like it! The biggest changes I made was just upping the veggies!Ingredients• 2 tablespoons coconut oil• 1 medium cooking onion, chopped• 5 garlic cloves, peeled (honestly, you can never have too much garlic)• 2 zucchinis, diced, peel on• 6 carrots, sliced into rounds• ½ bunch of celery stalks, chopped• 2 tablespoons of dried thyme• 3 handfuls of baby spinach• 4 yellow potatoes, cubed (I always leave the skin on in recipes when possible, extra nutrition 😊)• 1 can diced tomatoes, unseasoned, undrained• 3-4 containers beef stock (can sub for vegetable stock if you want to keep the recipe vegetarian!)• 1 can white kidney beans, drained and washed• freshly ground black pepper (same rule as my garlic rule applies here)• Sea Salt, to taste• 1 box of your small pasta of choice (for this recipe I used Ditalini because I had it, but I often use a whole grain or chickpea pasta)• Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnishInstructions1. In a soup pot, heat the coconut oil until melted.2. Add the onions, carrots, celery, zucchini and sauté until the vegetables are soft.3. Add the garlic and dried thyme, cooking for 2 minutes, stirring often.4. Add the potatoes and can of diced tomatoes.5. Bring to a simmer.6. Add the stock (save some to add throught, as you are simmering you will lose some liquid), beans, spinach and black pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 45-60 minutes until the spinach is wilted down and both the beans and potatoes appear to be cooked.7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions and put aside to add to soup when its done cooking.8. Taste for seasoning, and add the sea salt if needed. Add your pasta.9. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.Serves? I can’t even tell you.. a lot! I had some to freeze and I also spread the love to my mom and brother. If you don’t want that much soup, but cut down the amount of veggies and broth, you can mess up with soup 😊. Oh, and this soup freezes amazingly!If you make the recipe to post and tag @balanceblissblog and hashtag #balanceblissblogWhat’s your favourite soup recipe, I am ALWAYS up for trying new loves.Hugs and Kisses,Andrea