Cancer Fighting Minestrone

Cancer is an ugly, heart-breaking disease that knows no boundary to race, sex or age. Even though loss is a product that cannot be dismissed; joy, victory, progress and health can also be part of the cancer journey. At 23 years old, newly married and fresh out of college, I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid leukemia. It more than rocked my world. It forever changed me. Here I am five years later from that diagnoses and I have experienced the loss of the naivety of my twenties, the joy of a remission, the appreciation of my body, the kindness of strangers, the love of my family and the pure joy of my adopted baby girl. I've also experienced the disappointment of a relapse.

This December my routine test results showed a small percentage of leukemia present in my labs. Heart-break? Yes. But this time a much stronger woman was there to cope. As I have navigated a new treatment plan, I've had support in a variety of ways and one of my favorite, of course, is with food. A friend and co-worker of mine brought me two soups made from her cancer-fighting cookbook: lemon chicken and minestrone. I love that she purchased this cookbook and utilizes it to love on people like myself. What a wonderful gift.

I wanted to share my story and this tasty recipe with you.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup finely diced yellow onion

1 cup of peeled finely diced carrot

1 cup finely diced zucchini

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed

Pinch of red pepper flakes

8 cups of Magic Mineral Broth (see future post) or store-bought organic stock

1 14 oz. can of tomato- crushed

2 cups of cooked kidney beans

2 cups stemmed and finely chopped Swiss chard

4 ounces of whole grain pasta, cooked

1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley

Grated organic Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until golden brown. 

Add the carrots, zucchini, celery, garlic, oregano, thyme, fennel, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and sauté about 4 minutes. Pour half a cup of broth to deglaze the pot and let cook until broth reduces by half.

Add the remaining broth, the tomatoes, and the beans and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in the chard and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in the pasta and the parsley. 

Served topped with basil and a sprinkling of the Parmesan.

* Recipe from The Cancer Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz

'Till next time,

Natalie

Italian Wedding Soup

I've always been intrigued by Italian Wedding Soup but for one reason or another I have never worked up the courage to eat it or make it. Spending close to an hour pouring over recipes, I finally came across Recipe Girl's version of Ina Garten's Italian Wedding Soup. The soup appeared to have complex flavors yet seemed really simple to make. Also the meatballs looked delicious so I knew I had to give this recipe a try. 

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8 

Ingredients:
Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 lb. turkey sausage
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh Italian Parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp. milk
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Soup:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
10 cups chicken broth
1 cup orzo pasta
8 oz. fresh baby spinach, washed & stemmed 
1/4 cup minced fresh dill (optional)
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
parmesan cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, mix together ground turkey, turkey sausage (casings removed), breadcrumbs, minced garlic cloves, chopped parsley, parmesan cheese, milk, egg, and salt and pepper until combined. 

Roll turkey mixture into 1-inch or smaller meatballs (about 1 tablespoon of turkey mixture). Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or non-stick foil. Bake meatballs for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked all the way through. 

While the meatballs are in the oven, dice carrots, onion, and celery and set aside. Add olive oil to a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrots, and onion to oil and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. 

Once vegetables have softened, add chicken broth and if using, white wine (I did not personally care for the flavor that the wine added to the broth but some people love it.) Bring the soup to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 - 8 minutes or until the pasta is tender. 

If desired, stir in the chopped fresh dill at this point. I also did not care for the dill flavor in this soup. When I make it again, I will leave out the dill and add 1/2 tsp. oregano to it.  But if you love the flavor of dill, stick to the recipe and add the 1/4 cup chopped dill. 

After adding the dill, stir in the cooked meatballs and spinach. Simmer the meatballs and spinach in the soup for 1 minute until the spinach is just wilted and the meatballs are warm. 

Serve the soup garnished with extra parmesan cheese. 

Keep in mind that this soup makes a lot of delicious meatballs. You can store extra meatballs and use them in dishes such as spaghetti. 

'Till next time,
Caroline