Minestrone, Half Solar

There are probably as many recipes for minestrone as there are cooks. I don't have a set recipe of my own, it depends on what the market has to offer. Today I used mayocoba beans, savoy cabbage, leeks, carrots, celery, turnips, butternut squash, green beans and vegetable broth. After soaking the beans overnight and cooking them until soft, I combined them with the chopped vegetables and broth in a large pot and put it back in the Sun Oven. I served it over a slice of crusty bread rubbed with garlic and seasoned each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh basil, and a dusting of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I'm surprised I got any solar cooking done at all today. It wasn't until around noon that we started getting some intermittent sunshine. I figured I could at least get the beans going, if need be I'd finish up the minestrone inside. I set the Sun Oven out and was careful to refocus it often to get the most out of the little available sunlight. It wasn't until I went out to turn it the third time that I noticed it was empty; I'd forgotten to put the pot of beans in it. Oops. By the time the beans were cooked and the rest of the ingredients were chopped and ready to go it was starting to get cloudy again. I gave it a shot but after about an hour the clouds had taken over. This pot of soup was coming inside to simmer a little longer.