Daily Bento

Cam is home sick today.

We made it exactly one month from the start of the school year before she was taken out by some nasty cold germs.

Apparently this funk is going around because lots of other kids are out of school right now too.

She was kind enough to share with her father too so he’s currently in bed with the covers pulled over his head.

Whenever those two are sick, they only want my veggie soup, so I made a big pot of it last night so that they could have lots of leftovers to get them through the next couple of days.

It’s a great way to use up veg that may be a bit past it’s prime but still useable.

I normally don’t care much for soup but I love this one. I think it’s the beans and pasta that make it so yummy.

The recipe is below.

Cam has some of her favorite veggie soup, a couple slices of french bread for dipping, and a piece of pineapple upside down cake for lunch in her ELB today.

It’s been rainy and gloomy all morning. Hopefully I can get her to curl up on the couch after lunch and take a nap.

I’m not counting on it but a girl can dream.

Cam’s Favorite Veggie Soup

onion

garlic

celery

bell pepper

carrots

kale

28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

4 cups stock or broth (I use veggie)

small pasta like Ditalini or Stars

1 can of white beans (northern, canellini) rinsed and drained

1 bay leaf

seasoning to taste (salt & pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning – whatever you like)

Directions

Slice all vegetables about the same size and saute them in a little extra virgin olive oil until tender.

Add canned tomatoes with juice, stock, kale, and seasoning. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer and put a lid on top.

While the soup simmers gently, boil a pot of water for the pasta.

Just before the pasta is done, add the beans to the soup and remove the bay leaf.

When the pasta is done, drain, and add to each soup bowl. How much pasta you add is up to you.

Pour the soup over the pasta and enjoy!

I don’t leave the pasta in the soup because it turns to mush. I keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge and just add it to each bowl of soup as I need it.

There are no measurements or amounts because this is another one of those no-recipe recipes. You can adapt it to suit your taste. If don’t like something, leave it out. Add as much or as little of everything as you like. Just make sure you have enough liquid to cover everything by a couple of inches.