Tuscan Vegetable Soup

When I was in fourth grade, my parents decided that my family would do the Jingle Bell fun run with my grandparents (super healthy runners and juicers of the 80's at this point) and my mom's two youngest sisters. On the way to the race, my sister was in the middle of the backseat, and I (in an uncharacteristic fit of big sister niceness) let my sister rest against me. Woah. Big mistake. The next thing I knew, I was covered in the Campbell's chicken noodle soup that she had for lunch that day (the race was in the afternoon). Of course, even though I was the one drenched in chicken noodle soup gook, my parents were way more concerned with my sister's health and well-being. I mean really, people, priorities? It ended up that my dad stayed home with my sister (he's a doctor, so the sickbed is his territory), I hurridly changed clothes, and canned soup has never touched my lips since. It actually took me a really long time (try years here, maybe college?) to rock on any sort of soup after that. Even now, a broth-based soup (as opposed to a chowder) is a dicy proposition for me. I like French Onion soup, and that's about the end of the line.

So, I was a little hesitant about this Tuscan vegetable soup. On the one hand, I don't really like soup at all. On the other hand, the weather in D.C. is ideal soup weather right now, and it made sense to try this out. I didn't have time to go to the store, and the only beans I have on hand are black beans. So, I ended up leaving out the cannelini beans, and I added some pasta. I didn't think the pasta addition through, and I added way too much! I forgot how much it swells up in soup. The pasta was seriously trying to devour my soup. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. I did accidentally use a can of fire roasted tomatoes with chipotle, and I was upset when I discovered my error because I didn't want the heat of the peppers to interfere with the herbs. That said, I actually liked the kick that the chipotle added to the soup.


And the verdict? This was tasty. I still don't love soup, but I did like all of the veggies in this soup. I also loved the parmesan cheese on top. I debated adding it, and I'm glad that I did. It's such a blank canvas, and I'd like to play around with it. I can see myself making this again this winter, but playing with the add-ins a little bit more. I served the soup with these Soft Garlic Knots from the King Arthur website. These rolls are so seriously soft and yummy -- I highly recommend that you check out the recipe. Thanks to Pam at Lobster and Fishsticks for this week's recipe. Be sure to check out her blog if you'd like to see how she makes her soup.