Minestrone Soup and Herb Bread

I wish I had a big bowl of this soup right now! This was a great soup recipe and is better than Olive Gardens ;-)

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen peas(thawed)
3 small yellow squash(chopped)
2 medium zucchini(chopped)
1 can green beans
5 celery stalks(chopped)
1 red bell pepper(chopped)
2 large carrots(chopped)
1 large white onion(chopped)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp Oregano
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp parsley
2 cans reduced sodium kidney beans(drained and rinsed)
1 can white kidney beans(drained and rinsed)
2 can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 box organic vegetable broth
1 can chicken broth
2 Tbsp light brown sugar

Add everything to the crock pot and stir. Let cook on high 6 hours.
I will say this FILLED my 6qt crock pot. So if you have in a bigger one you will want to use it OR combine everything and then freeze half for later.
I also ate on the through out the week and it just kept getting better and better!
Y'all have to try this soon!
I got the original recipe at UndressedSkeleton, one of my favorite sites! :-)

On the same day I made the soup I made some Herb bread to go with it. I found this recipe on Pinterest and had my eye on it for a while but, I knew it would be perfect match for the Minestrone Soup!

Cheese, Olive, and Buttermilk Herb Bread 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 cup green olives slices
8 pieces sun dried tomatoes, sliced thin
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
1/4 cup mixture of parsley and green onion
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
-Egg Wash (made from 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tbsp water)
Extra thyme leaves and sea salt for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350.

Generously butter a loaf pan and dust with flour, set aside.

In a large bowl sift all dry ingredients. Then add in cheese. Next add olives and tomatoes, onion and parsley. and thyme. Stir thoroughly together.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, then olive oil and buttermilk until combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk mixture in the well. Stir until the "dough" is very sticky and then pour into the loaf pan.

Brush the top of the batter with the egg wash and then add the extra thyme and salt.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Once knife inserted in center comes out clean remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack.

I got the original recipe from Sugar and Everything Nice, found on Pinterest! :-)