From the Kitchen of WoodmenLife SVP & General Counsel Lynn Espeland: Minestrone

WoodmenLife is committed to supporting your family. So we thought it would be nice to get to know each other better by sharing a little from the WoodmenLife family. Here, Senior Vice President & General Counsel Lynn Espeland shares a family recipe and the memories that make it so special. Hopefully when you make it, you can create special family memories of your own.

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One of my most cherished recipes is a classic minestrone soup from Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking. It’s a versatile go-to that, for me, celebrates the importance of shared family mealtime on holidays and weeknights alike.

My mother was a nutritionist and a Home Economics professor, and she used Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking as her textbook. Meta’s Encyclopedia is an amazing text with detailed preparation instructions for everything from squirrel and possum to mashed potatoes and French dressing.

My mother practiced what she taught her students: It is important to come home and sit down with the whole family each night, converse about our days, and enjoy a meal together.

In our home, minestrone became a Christmas Eve tradition. But its beauty lies in its versatility — this soup is just as wonderful on a chilly winter night as it is reheated on a busy summer evening after a softball tournament. Each time I prepare this soup, I feel my mother’s presence.

I’m honored to share this recipe and hope that it brings as much warmth to your table as it has to mine, in every season.

Minestrone

Ingredients:

½ cup kidney or red beans

1½ Ibs. beef soup bone

½ Ib. lean beef

1½ qts. water

2½ tsp. salt

2 slices bacon, chopped

¼ Ib. ham, chopped

½ cup celery, finely chopped

1 cup onion, chopped

¾ cup leek, sliced

1 medium clove garlic, crushed

1 zucchini, 4 x 1½ inches

No. 2 can tomatoes (about 2½ cups)

2 cups cabbage, shredded

½ cup broken spaghetti, macaroni, or rice

⅛ to ¼ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. dried basil

¼ tsp. allspice

Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Wash beans, cover with plenty of water, and soak overnight.

Have soup bone cracked. Wipe both bone and beef with damp cloth. Cut beef into small pieces. Place in soup kettle with bone, add water and salt. Cover tightly, heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer 1½ hours. Add drained beans.

Put bacon and ham in skillet with celery, onion, leek, garlic, and zucchini. Sauté slowly, stirring almost constantly until fat fries out and vegetables are soft. Turn into soup kettle and simmer for another 1½ hours or until beans are about tender. Now add tomatoes, cabbage, spaghetti, and pepper. Cook 20 minutes or until spaghetti is tender.

Add basil and allspice the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove soup bone; strip off clinging meat and add to soup.

Ladle into hot bowls; sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top. Serve with crisp crackers, Italian or French bread. 4 to 5 servings.

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