Minestrone Love: Five Different Minestrone Soups for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

I spent most of my Saturday helping out at a job fair for work and after an exhausting week, you guessed it, I wasn't in to spending time in the kitchen this weekend. So instead, I relaxed and caught up with my reading, and I bring you some minestrone soups I have loved.

Minestrone is a classic and can have so many variations. Wikipedia says, "Minestrone is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice, sometimes both. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, croutons, and tomatoes."

Here are five of I ave featured on the blog:

This Farmer's Market Minestrone with White Beans is satisfying and summery:

My Middle Eastern Minestrone with Chickpeas and Israeli Couscous is an exotic take on the classic made special with One Flew Over the Couscous Nest spice from @thebookclubcookbook: 

A simple, healthy classic is Ellie Krieger's Family Favorite Minestrone: 

Back when I ate meat on the regular, I threw this Smoky Minestrone Soup together from my pantry and fridge:

And when I was eating vegan and lots of raw foods, I tried this no-cook Home-Style Minestrone, another good option for a hot summer day. 

Five different versions--all delicious!

Now let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week.

Melynda from Scratch Made Food shared another three dishes this week. The first is a Avocado Caprese Salad. She says, "This is a bit off the path from the usual Caprese salad, but very much a delightful rendition. And because it is a freestyle salad, feel free to improvise as you wish, to please your family. This Avocado Caprese Salad makes a lovely starter to any summer meal, as well as a delicious main course."

Next is her Tuscan Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Oregano. She says, "With fresh tomato season ending soon, you too will want to make this salad. Like all cooks before me and everyone that will come after, I changed the process a bit. Made is easier on the cook...Oh and used what I currently have in the garden.....tender baby beet greens and swiss chard, from the garden."

Finally she shared her White Bean Soup with Cilantro Broth, saying it's "is perfect to enjoy just about anytime, but especially when you desire something fresh, frugal, and full of vegetables! With already cooked beans on hand, this easy delicious full meal soup comes together quickly!"

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought a cooling Tomato, Cucumber & Mozzarella Salad, saying, "Tomato, cucumber and mozzarella salad is just perfect for a hot summer dinner.  It's a quick and easy side dish, healthy ingredients and tasty too. I've been enjoying reading through this Jacques Pepin cookbook lately, staying inside and avoiding the high temperatures. This recipe was one I'd bookmarked awhile back,  no time like the present."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared Watermelon, Cucumber, Tomato, and Mint Salad and said, "When temperatures start to rise to over 90 degrees, you will welcome this refreshing watermelon, cucumber, and tomato salad seasoned with chopped scallions and freshly chopped mint-  it is sweet, savory and delicious. This revitalizing salad is perfect during hot and humid summer heat waves when the need to hydrate is so important, and you only feel like eating something light." 

Thanks to Judee, Tina and Melynda for joining me this week! 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.
• Although we are pretty wide on what defines a soup, sandwich or salad, entries that are clearly not in the same family (ie: desserts, meats, random main or side dishes that aren't salads, etc.) are meant for another round up and will be deleted. 

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!