It really is Amazing what Soup can Do - Minestrone

You know how the Campbell's soup commercials always advertise: "It's amazing what soup can do." Well, I guess it's obvious that those commercials were always referring to the fact that soups can go "beyond the can," and I suppose they always try to prove this to you by showing you what a can of soup looks like if it's poured over rice, or eaten out of a coffee mug, or something silly like that. However, I never realized the import of those little words until today.

I guess by way of introduction, and some background, I am currently finishing my my last year of law school and my boyfriend is teaching English in Korea for a year (yes a year, and he only left a month ago... sigh). As part of my mission to do anything but sit and mope about, I've decided to create a food blog to show my delicious, and sometimes failed, attempts to make beautiful or heart-warming food to not only keep me busy, but also to let me relieve stress and learn some new skills.

As third year of law school seems to be showing me on a daily basis, stress comes and goes as it will, and there really isn't much I can do to predict when it will overwhelm me. That as it may be, I realized today that there is no ceiling on stress. In fact, just when you think you couldn't have more on your plate, burdens on your shoulders, things piling up, it hits you that... in fact, you can, and you will.

I happened to study this afternoon for a law school exam in one of the most boring and complicated subjects possible (Secured Transactions, yuck. What the heck is a secured transaction anyway?). It didn't necessarily help that I decided to study with one of the brightest students in my class (#2 in the class as a matter of fact). I suppose I always fancied myself to be somewhat of a competitor with this particular student; however, after only a few short hours with her, I realized that I am no where close to her level of intelligence. For so long I had tricked myself into somehow believing that the only thing separating the two of us was my inability to sit at a desk for as many hours on end as she did. BUT, I was wrong. In fact, she is tremendously brilliant and my inability to focus was not the issue.

I did make a single attempt to go back to studying after that challenging study session, but after about 45.2 seconds I realized that such an attempt was futile. Rather, I packed my bags and headed home. As I tried to convince myself not to cry on my way back to my apartment, I decided that food could calm me down. But not just any food, no, the only thing that would calm my nerves this particular afternoon was a hearty bowl of soup.

While I didn't put all the ingredients into the crockpot until about 4:00pm (meaning that I didn't get a taste of its deliciousness until about 10 minutes ago, at 1:30 am), the aroma throughout my apartment this evening was enough to calm my nerves, get me back on the right track, and refocus my brain into studying for finals again.

ENJOY! (And don't stress, as Scarlet O'Hara says: "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.")

Spicy Crock Pot Minestrone Soup:

1 (32 oz.) carton Swanson's chicken broth

1 (28 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes

1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz.) can black beans

      [I'd like to point out here, that I never realized that different beans came in different sized cans... who knew?]

 5 small red-skinned potatoes, peeled and diced small

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

1 stalk celery (leaves and all) (make sure you clean it well, dirt loves nothing like the inside of a celery stalk)

3 medium-large carrots, peeled and chopped (quartered for the wider top half of the carrot)

1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 2-3 large cloves)

3 - 4 fresh basil leaves finely chopped

1/2 tbsp. dried minced onion

1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1 tbsp. dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

1 tsp. salt (that's all I'll admit to using because my mom is probably going to read this, but in reality put in a lot... like 1 tbsp. +)

2 tsp. dried oregano

[optional] 1 tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes (but don't add these in until about 4 hours into cook time)

      Of course, you can put more or less depending on your spiciness level.

[optional] 8oz. (1/2 box) dried mini shell pasta (truthfully, the soup already has potatoes, but I can't get enough of pasta)

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the box (but for better taste cook in salted water). Add to soup when soup is finished cooking. The soup is especially delicious with additions at the end like freshly grated parmesan cheese or a piece of toasted garlic bread.