Take advantage of summer vegetables with this delicious sole minestrone! The addition of sole to this classic vegetable soup gives it lots of protein, and some pesto kicks in even more flavor. Carrots, zucchini, cabbage, celery, and potatoes provide lots of nutrients. This is a hearty soup that tastes delicious and covers all the bases. It is a full meal in one simmering pot.
Once again, necessity is the driving force behind a great meal. I had some sole that I needed to cook before it lost its freshness, and I also knew that I had to make something ahead of time that could be reheated quickly when we all got home and wanted dinner. I adapted this recipe from the Food and Wine website, and I am so glad I found it. The only ingredient I really changed was that I used great northern beans instead of pinto beans, and some of the amounts of the vegetables are slightly different. All the vegetables are fresh and in season right now, so that was a huge bonus, especially because I still have zucchini to use, and I am always happy to find ways to use it!
I have made minestrone countless times, but never with fish, and never with pesto, and I have to say I love this variation. For this soup, I made my own pesto, since we have a lovely little basil plant thriving in a pot, and because we love to have pesto on hand, but store-bought pesto would work too. The pesto, mixed with the mild flavor of the sole, takes this soup to a new level. And soup is good for the soul. (The poet in me cannot ignore the word play between sole and soul.) Both making soup and eating soup fulfills some kind of need for my spirit. With my kids starting back to school this week, this was the perfect way for me to nourish my family and myself through this transitional time. My son had three bowls it the minute he got home from his cross country practice!
It has been a little while since I last posted, and it is good to be back in this space. The month of August has been really full and a bit chaotic around here, but I have nothing to complain about. A trip to Grey County, Ontario is one of the highlights of this month, and I already miss that little A-frame cabin in the wooded valley, next to the clear, bubbling stream. We went to sleep with the sound of the stream flowing over the rocks, and woke to the sun streaming through the trees. The Georgian Bay, hiking trails, waterfalls, and huge hills and valleys enchanted us. Although Canada is not that far away from here, it does feel like a foreign country to me, and my family and I enjoyed every minute of it. Why is it that in general, Canadians seem so much more laid-back than Americans? I’m not sure I know the answer to that, but I tried to bring some of that relaxed approach to life back home with me.
My kids are already back in school, and though it is good, I also miss our summer life together. They are growing so quickly, and though we get on each other’s nerves sometimes like all families do, my husband and I treasured our time exploring new places and visiting familiar favorite places with them. I was talking recently with a friend about the passage of time, and she said, “the train just keeps on going!” We laughed, in a bittersweet kind of way, because it is true. We cannot seem to stop the train of time, or even get off for awhile. One minute the kids are in elementary school, the next minute they are starting junior high and high school.
I hope you are all having a great summer, and hope we can savor the last month of it! This is one of my favorite times of the year, as the sun stays warm, but is mellow, and the insects are so loud at night, they make it a very distinctive time of year. One evening not long ago, I stepped from inside my house out to the porch, and I felt like I was stepping into a whole different world, with the surprising humming and chirping of the various crickets, katydids and cicadas (and who knows what else! Luckily, my back porch is screened in.) I love that sound though, because it means the nights are still warm and summer is still here. Have a great weekend! It has been awhile since I joined Angie’s Fiesta Friday, and I look forward to catching up with some great food bloggers there as well!
Sole Minestrone
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 cup of onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
- 2 ribs of celery, finely chopped
- 2 medium or 4 small potatoes, diced
- 1 medium zucchini, finely chopped
- 1/4 head (or about 3/4 of a pound) of green cabbage, shredded
- 3 and 3/4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth (I really like the Better than Bouillon broths)
- 1 can (15 ounces) of great northern beans or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 and 1/2 pounds of sole fillets, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons of pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
Directions:
Wash all the vegetables and chop or dice them into about 1/4-inch pieces. Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, and potatoes. Cook, continuing to stir occasionally, for another 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and cabbage and cook 5 more minutes, still stirring now and then.
Add the broth, beans, tomato paste, and salt. Bring just to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Continue to simmer, partially covered, about 18 minutes more, or until the vegetables are tender. While the vegetables are simmering, make the pesto (if using homemade) and cut the sole into 1 inch pieces. When the vegetables are tender, add the pesto, sole and the pepper. Cook, uncovered, about 1 to 2 more minutes, until the fish is done. (Sole is a thin fish, so it does not take long to cook). Ladle into bowls. Serve warm or wait till it reaches room temperature, if it is a hot evening. Enjoy!
With the outdoor temperature around here soaring this week, a cold soup is a perfect addition to any meal. And it is so easy to make–just put the ingredients in a blender and blend! Then pour it into a container and let it chill! This recipe is adapted from my husband’s favorite cookbook, Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier. It is a plant-based, vegan recipe–great for building up the immune system and recharging the body with lots of wonderful nutrients. If you don’t like coconut milk, you can always substitute Greek yogurt to get the creamy texture without the subtle coconut taste. I have gotten so I really like the coconut milk taste, and it feels good to have an alternative to dairy sometimes, though I still love my cheese and yogurt.
Summer is fully, completely here. We went swimming at a nearby lake last weekend. Before we left for home, I went into the bathroom there to change out of my wet bathing suit. The changing room had an open-air courtyard and curtains across the individual changing stalls. The wind came in through the open ceiling and was lightly blowing the curtains, not enough to compromise anyone’s privacy, but enough that the curtains were billowing gently in the breeze, creating a hushed, peaceful atmosphere. It was such a serene setting, with the sun shining through the leaves in the open-air ceiling, and the curtains quietly flowing with the breeze. Women from all walks of life were going in and out, and everyone was so peaceful and refreshed after cooling off in the lake. I never expected to find this lovely setting in a public bathroom at a state park. It was a quiet oasis in the middle of a busy crowd, like time was standing still for a few minutes.
I love a good leek and potato soup, but this time I wanted to add chicken to make the meal extra filling for my growing boy and my hungry husband. The mild flavor of chicken and chicken broth go great with the potatoes and leeks. At the end of the cooking time, I added milk instead of the traditional cream, to make it lighter, yet still creamy and silky. Leek and potato soup is usually pureed in a blender, but with the chicken, that is not such a good idea. However, I found that since the vegetables cooked all day in the crockpot, they were very tender and soft anyway. Topped with some fresh chives and salt and pepper, this meal is a keeper.
I have had my crockpot for many years, and I find it to be such a lifesaver during the times in our life when I am unable to be home making dinner at dinner time. This week has been that kind of a week, and this soup really hit the spot for my guys–with leftovers, we had it two nights in a row. If you need a quick crockpot soup to throw together in the morning so you can get out of a pinch in the evening, this is a delicious one!
My kids both had their band concert a couple of nights ago. There is something about listening to live music that is so invigorating and satisfying. It brings up all kinds of emotions and memories, and it brings people together. At the end of the concert, the combined high school and junior high bands played “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Someone turned on the disco ball in the auditorium, and we in the audience sat there in the dark, with little twinkling lights swirling around us, listening to our kids play a song that was part of our own teenage years. For a few minutes we were suspended in time. When the concert ended and the lights came back on, I was not the only one with moist eyes. The band sounded so good! The kids played so well. Children grow so fast. Time flies. We are all in this together.
