Cooking Simply for a weeknight dinner Guest.

We had a lovely dinner with a friend last night.  A couple of weeks ago we ran into her and her boyfriend at a local restaurant. My husband  and I had only known her casually through yoga, as some one you saw, recognized but did not speak to. The restaurant where we had our encounter was one that was dedicated to fresh, local, and sustainable food. This we thought was a sign. We loved food, they loved food, we loved yoga, they loved yoga, we are an American/Canadian couple, they are an American/Canadian couple, etc. So we made tentative plans for dinner. It turned out that he was leaving for a month and that she would be our only dinner guest this *time*. So we thought we would make it a simple affair (I am hoping that our screaming 3 yr olds who were in a form not seen since the days of Carol Anne in the movie Poltergeist last night did not scare her off).   


We (I cut and chopped, husband cooked) made a winter minestrone from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food:Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.  Here is the adapted recipe.


1 1/2 cups cannellini beans with 1 cup cooking liquid1/4 cup olive oil1 lg finely chopped onion2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped2 celery stalks, finely chopped4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped1tsp dried thyme or 5 sprigs fresh1 bay leaf2 tsp salt plus more for seasoning3 cups of water1 sm leek, diced1/2 head of cabbage, thinly cut, boiled in salt water until softened3/4 lbs bite-sized diced turnips1/2 lbs bite sized dice yellow potatoes1 cup cooked small pasta, such as confetti (optional)* I made my own from the left over dough I had by cutting in strips and then making tiny squares (optional. Alice Waters' recipe does not call for it) parsley leaves, grated parmesan cheese & olive oil for garnishing