Minestrone:

(ingredients listed in order of appearance)

half red onion
one large carrot
two stalks celery
two tired looking mushrooms out my fridge
crushed red pepper
five cloves garlic
water enough to make soup
tblsp or so tomato paste
dash of balsamic vinegar
dash of red wine vinegar
three or four parmesan rinds
pinch each of dried basil, thyme, and oregano
can of cannellini beans
half cup or so elbow macaroni
juice from half a lemon
tblsp or so fresh oregano
half of one medium potato, cooked
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion, celery, and carrot until soft. Add garlic. Add water, tomato paste, vinegar, parmesan rinds, herbs, beans. Boil then simmer. Add pasta and simmer until cooked. Turn of heat and add lemon juice. Mash the potato well and add to thicken the soup a little.

This soup needs a lot of salt. I don't even want to guess how much, but it will probably just taste like water with stuff in it unless salt is added at every stage. Zucchini would make this minestrone really good, but I didn't have it. Probably any little bit of old veggie in the fridge could be disposed of here. We happened to have some leftover pesto; a spoonful of this in the bottom of the bowl made the soup taste extra good.