Bean & Pasta Soup
join our Healthy Lifestyle & Cooking Groups

What you need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium-size onion finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 quarts of chicken stock (can be homemade or chicken broth in a can)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups of small pasta shells (about 3 oz.)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of pinto beans

What you do:

1. Heat oil in a medium size saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, carrots, and celery; cook until soft. Add stock, salt, pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover; simmer 20 minutes.
3. Add pasta cook 10 minutes more or until pasta is just tender to the bite. Drain beans. Rinse in cold water.
4. Using a food processor puree 1/2 the beans ( you can also use a food blender here ). Add pureed and whole beans to the soup. Stir well.
   Cook 2 more minutes. Serve.

Love Soup
Chris Bolton, author of "The Girlville Diner" says, "When someone I love is sad, I make soup. Nothing thaws melancholia like broth and love.  I pay no attention to intricate soup rules requiring hours of preparation and scads of forethought.    I've little time for making Fancy spice balls or stock from roasted chickens.   But I have time enough for love, given in the form of a simple soup." See her recipe for a very special chicken soup which she calls, "Love Soup."