Minestrone soup

I have been really busy the last few days and therefore have not been making anything that takes more than 30 minutes to cook from start to finish. There have been a lot of soup and sandwich meals. This is one of the soups I made. I added a lot more vegetables than a usual minestrone soup has and added some tofu too.

Ingredients

Onion 1 large

Ginger 1/4 tsp grated

3tbsp cashew paste (soaked and ground cashews)

Garlic 4-5 cloves (finely chopped)

2 cups mixed vegetables chopped

(carrots, corn, green beans, peas) frozen or steamed

Can of chopped tomatoes

3-4 tablespoon tomato paste

Vegetable broth 4 cups

2 cups cooked pasta ( I used tri color shells)

1/2 cup canned kidney beans (rinsed)

1/4 cup diced tofu

Fresh Italian herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme 

Or dried herbs

Black pepper and salt to taste

Olive oil for cooking

Method

Heat a little oil and saute the tofu till slightly brown. Remove and keep aside.Add the onions, garlic, and ginger in the same oil and cook for a few minutes. Now add all the chopped vegetables, salt and black pepper. Stir for a few more minutes. Add the tomatoes and the paste and stir well. Now pour the broth, beans, dried herbs, cashew paste and tomato paste. Cover and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes. Finally add the tofu. Garnish with basil leaves.