Easy Vegetable Soup with Beans and Pasta

Summer might not be the time where people think "hey, I'll make a piping hot soup!" but let's face it, it's an easy, clean and delicious meal that takes next to no time to prepare. We're fans of soup any time of the year even in the Summer because we are busy people. It just works. And this soup has been our go-to for YEARS. We are still making it and adapting it each time by adding in a bay leaf or changing the type of beans or shape of pasta. 

Start to finish, this soup takes about 40 minutes. We have yet to ever prepare one of those 30 minute meals in 30 minutes. This is as close to a 30 minute meal as we can get. Maybe we are slow or maybe we tend to overcook our veggies but that's how we like it. Cook this for a long as you'd like or as short as you'd like. Just make sure you give it enough time to let the flavours meld.

Easy Vegetable Soup (vegan, gluten-free option)

Ingredients1 tbsp olive oil1 medium yellow onion, chopped3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely (use less is you don't love garlic like we do)2-3 stalks of celery, chopped small3 carrots, chopped small1 tsp Herbamare seasoningbay leaf, optionalsalt and fresh ground pepper, to taste1 28 oz. can of chopped tomatoes1 can romano beans (or any type of beans you like!)
6 cups vegetable stock1 cup of pasta of your choosing (use GF, if desired/required)nutritional yeast or Parma, for toppingmore freshly cracked black pepper, for topping
Directions1. In a large pot over medium heat add the oil, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, Heramare (bay leaf, if you want) and salt and pepper and cook until just soft. 2. Add tomatoes, stock, beans and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Remove bay leaf (if used).3. Add the pasta and cook for another 8-10 min until the pasta is al dente. 4. Top with more freshly cracked black pepper, nooch or Parma! to make it extra delicious.

I would hope someone out there in the universe understands our love for fun-shaped pasta but this was a box of Catelli Bistro Rainbow pasta made us extra excited. It was perfect for this soup and tiny enough so you could get a few pasta on your spoon. Alphabet pasta are also awesome, no matter your age. Who doesn't like looking for the letters to spell their own name in their bowl of soup?!

We love Parma! especially the Garlicky Green variety though the Original is also awesome. We just love garlic and this is quite garlicky. We purchased it at the Toronto Vegetarian Festival in 2016 but have since repurchased at our local health food store Nature's Emporium in Newmarket, ON.