Minestrone with Rainbow Chard

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves - chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 chopped carrots
• 4 oz chard (de-stemmed and chopped)
• 2-tomatoes - chopped
• 2 potatoes - chopped
• beans
• 1/4 cup chickpeas
• 1/4 cup red beans
• 1/4 cup fava beans
• 3 quarts of water
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

Directions

• This recipe is adapted from a recipe in The Blue Zones Kitchen
• Prepare all of your veggies,  and set aside.
• add some olive oil to a pot to begin warming at medium heat
• Toss in the aromatics: garlic, leeks and celery sauté for 5 min or until they begin to look translucent
• Add in the the potatoes and carrots, adding a bit more olive oil, sauté for 3-5 min
• Add water, beans and tomatoes and chard
• Bring pot to a boil, and then lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 min
• add a few tablespoons of fresh lemon, and salt and pepper to taste

If you like a thicker soup, you can use an immersion blender to blend some of the soup - or you can remove a cup of soup from the pot and blend it, then returning it to the pot

You can use canned or dry beans for this recipe. Dry beans will have to be soaked overnight