Vegetable & Pasta "Chicken" Soup

This is a combination of minestrone and chicken noodle soup that was a hit with the whole family...a rare occurrence let me tell you! As you can see I added way to much pasta the first time!

I actually made real minestrone for the kids one day from a Jamie Oliver recipe and they hated it, so I guess this is pretty different from real minestrone - just along the same idea ;)

Vegetable & Pasta "Chicken" Soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 TBLS olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large potato, chopped into small chunks
Handful green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper to taste
1 14oz can chopped tomatoes (I used 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
1 tsp celery salt (or you can chop one celery stalk - my husband hates celery)
6 cups vegan chicken or vegetable broth (I used Better Than Bouillon Vegan Chicken)
1 15oz can kidney beans (I used chickpeas because it's what I had)
1 cup GF elbow pasta
Handful of baby spinach


Method

Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat and cook onion until translucent.
Add garlic and cook for a minute before adding carrot, potato and celery if using and cook till heated through.
Stir in green beans and herbs/seasonings and cook for 3 minutes.
Add in tomatoes and broth and bring to boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in beans and pasta, cooking for around 10 minutes or until pasta is done.
Add in baby spinach and any more salt or pepper you want to taste.Once spinach is wilted serve!