vegetable noodle soup

It's official. I'm totally sick! And I mean stay-home-from-work, lay-in-bed-all-day sick. I really want to reach for the Campbell's can like always, but they put high fructose corn syrup in most of their soups. So instead, I reached for the phone and called my mother. She gave me the recipe to her escarole soup. She used to make this soup for me as a child and I would pick through the greens and only eat the noodles. (Who am I kidding, up until 5 months ago I was doing it.) Needless to say, I cringed a little at the thought of putting escarole in my soup but went for it anyway. (Ahhchooo!)

The ingredients are somewhat interchangeable, but the following made a delish and nutrish soup:
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 of a small red onion, cubed
2 stalks celery
2 to 3 carrots (I also include the greens)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 head of escarole, chopped
2 Tablespoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pasta (your choice)
A pinch of iodized salt (1/4 Tablespoon?)
A few twists of fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf

Her instructions were simple:
Start out by sautéing the garlic, onion, and celery in EVOO in a large pot. In the time it takes to chop the carrots and parsley, you're ready to toss them in as well. (Cough) Next is the escarole. Add one cup of broth to the pot, stir, and let the ingredients simmer for 10 minutes. In the mean time, put on another pot of water to boil for the pasta.  Lastly, Add the remaining cups of vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaf and let it come to a gentle boil. After draining the pasta, you're ready to add it to the mix and serve.

This soup did wonders for my throat and I definitely didn't have to choke it down. I will no longer push the escarole aside and maybe next time, I'll try putting the whole head in the mix ;) Thanks again ma.