Vegan Winter Minestrone and Fresh Swiss Chard (Picked in November!)

A vegan-delicious minestrone, lots of fresh chard from the garden, seasoned with lots of good spices and served with a side of homemade bread: the perfect meal!

Unbelievably fresh chard I picked from the garden in November! (The key to keeping your greens fresh is to make absolutely sure they are dry--very dry, prior to storage.)

I was shocked to see the date and then see how brilliant green my chard had kept!

Another meal centered around bread. This being the second half of the bread from last night--the other half we kept in the fridge. I will say that this bread was even better the second day. I didn't think it was possible.

A warm soup in the middle of winter is the staff of life in times like these. I (like many others I'm sure) crave comfort foods right now. Drawn to the the simple and sublime, trying to make vegan food out of basic staples kept in the pantry, whipping together a heart healthy and nutritional meal with a ton of flavor makes the evening meal a very gracious event. It's a wonder we don't make a call for there to be a National Soup Month. Well I'll be darned, I just Googled that and discovered January IS National Soup Month--who knew? Seems perfect if you ask me. I began my soup eating like most from my "presevative-laden-tv-dinner- generation" with the canned kind--with a red label mostly. Ick.

Last night was perfect for this soup. We had taken the dogs for a walk along a river trail. The sun peeked out just after noon-- we'd been without it for the past several days, so the urge to be "outside" was strong. Many other like-minded folks decided to do the same. Runners abounded. Walkers with dogs, too. But I was excited to see "my kind"--the runners--the most. Mr. Thyme walks behind me, then talks to the other dog walkers as he moves along the trail. As a runner, you feel a kinship when you pass another runner (or when they pass you). We know from where we come and we know why we run.

Minestrone is one of the easiest soups to make--anyone can do this--seriously. Just go through your veggie drawer and onion and potato piles. Make sure you have garlic, it's a must. Then do whatever you feel like doing. Beginning obviously with the basics: saute the onions and garlic--the start for a million meals.
I always feel that a leafy green of some kind needs to make an appearance in this soup. I felt around in the "green gut" shelf of my fridge (I call it this because it is where most of my lettuces, cabbage, cauliflower and all land). I pulled out a green storage bag and looked--this was my Swiss chard I'd harvested from my garden before our freeze. The bag was dated back in November! I looked at the leafy tips, no browning. I removed it from the bag, still good as new! Unbelievable. Here it was nearly two months later and my garden was still feeding me! I loved it! As I've said before, I am in the middle of planning my veggie plots for this spring. You can bet more chard will be in the ground! Here's a guide of how my soup came together. I think you could create this in any way you'd like--it's all good!

Vegan Winter Minestrone

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
6 cloves garlic minced
2 medium carrots diced
1 large celery stalk diced
1/2 red bell pepper diced
1 medium sweet potato (peeled and cubed)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can dark red kidney beans
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (crushed in a mortar)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Spike seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup dried elbow macaroni (or other smallish shaped pasta)
1/2 cup red cooking wine
3 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter
4 cups veggie stock
additional water to add if needed
fresh basil for topping (about five fresh basil leaves)
additional olive oil to sprinkle over when serving

Over medium heat in a large soup pot, saute the onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then add remaining chopped veggies and allow to soften and brown a bit--this will take about 5 more minutes--stir it once in a while as the veggies are heating up. Add the canned tomatoes and kidney beans. Add the seasonings and cooking wine. Allow to simmer another 5 minutes. Add the veggie stock and the Earth Balance. Now, just let this simmer for about 30 minutes. Uncovered. I like the flavors to really intensify and therefore, don't like to cover my soup at this point. After the 30 minutes are up, I add my "pasta of choice", then cover the pot and turn the heat down to the lowest level. Your broth will really begin to come together. Watch the thickness factor (because as the pasta cooks, the broth will thicken) and if you see that the soup is thicker than you'd like, go ahead and add water in 1/2 cup increments. Cook soup for another 15-20 minutes--the longer you can let this simmer on low, the better. Right before serving, take about five basil leaves and roll them up around each other--to make a tube. Then carefully slice thin strips of the leaves for use on top of the soup. Serve in large bowls, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. Yum! Oh, don't forget tot get that bread together, too!