Our Favorite Vegan Soup

Is it cold where you live? How about some soup? This is a yummy minestrone adapted from the one in this book:

Slow Cooker Minestrone
serves six

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 small carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 small zucchini, ends trimmed, and cubed
One 15 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained, and half the beans mashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
Two 14.5-ounce diced tomatoes, with their juice
One 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
5 leaves Swiss Chard or Kale (or a handful of baby spinach leaves), chopped
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
1/3 Cup whole wheat elbow macaroni

1. In a large skillet, saute onion, carrot, celery and zucchini using water instead of oil. Cook, stirring often, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker and add kidney beans, salt, bay leaf, pepper, parsley, tomatoes with their juice, limas and broth. Add water to come about 1 inch above the vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours.

2. Add chard (or Kale or Spinach) and vinegar, and continue to cook on LOW for another 2 to 3 hours.

3. Remove bay leaf. Stir in pasta and cook on HIGH until the pasta is just tender, about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

*I typed this up months ago, when it was cold here, and have been waiting to get a picture.  Instead of waiting another 6 months for the weather to turn cold enough for soup, I thought I'd post this now.  Enjoy!