Delicious and Nutritious: How to Make the Ultimate All The Greens Minestrone

Minestrone really needs no introduction but this take on it, in my humble opinion, takes it to another level. Packed with nutrient dense greens it will fill you up and your gut, liver and immunity will thank you.

You will need for 6/8 servings:

Extra Virgin Olive oil

2 leeks, finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 bunch of asparagus, chopped

2 courgettes, diced

Jar/tin of White beans

100g frozen petit pois

100g frozen edamame

500ml Chicken bone broth/stock

400/500ml boiling water

Half a bunch of Cavolo Nero, chopped

Good dollop of Pumpkin seed pesto

Lemon juice

Salt and pepper to season

1. Heat some olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the leeks and sauté gently. You don’t want them to colour. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of more minutes.

2. Add the asparagus and courgette, stirring to combine before adding in the beans, peas, edamame and then the broth and water. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce to a simmer before adding in the Cavolo Nero. Season to taste.

3. Keep simmering until the vegetables and legumes are cooked, around 5 minutes.

4. Stir through the juice of half a lemon and a good dollop of the pesto.

5. Serve with more pesto and a light grating of parmesan.

This soup will keep refrigerated for several days in an airtight container though the sooner eaten the better to get the best from the vitamins and minerals.

All these green vegetables, lemon juice and pumpkin seeds are great sources of Vitamin C, one of our anti-oxidant Vitamins. Only humans, primates and guinea pigs need to get Vitamin C from food sources, all other beings, including our pets can synthesise their own from metabolised glucose.

If we don’t get enough daily intake we are are risk of severe health problems and it has been reported that scurvy, the age old disease of sailors and impoverished Victorians has made a comeback here in the UK!

The White Blood Cells of our immune system depend on Vitamin C to destroy invading pathogens and create new immune cells. Without these vital nutrients going in, we are being left exposed to disease processes. If you are interested in reading more about the relationship between glucose and vitamin C and a little science, this is a really interesting article.

Article written by Patricia Alexander-Bird, Dip NT, Naturopathic Nutritionist.

Adapted from an original recipe by Elissa Goodman

Photo credit: Heather Birnie