Vegetable Minestrone with Buckwheat (or quinoa)

I had this recipe hanging on my fridge for about 2 months and finally was in the mood to make it! Nothing like a good down pour of rain to put you in the mood for soup :)
As always, I made some changes to the original recipe from Clean Eating. I wrote in the changes I made, but I am sure either way will be delicious!

Ingredients

I added Napa Cabbage and zuchinni to the veggies in the soup
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2" dice (about 1 cup)1 1 cup fennel
1 cup red onion, diced
2 lrg cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves (I didn't use these, just used an italian herb blend instead of the herbs here)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped (skipped)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (skipped)
1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced ( I used canned organic tomatoes that had garlic and basil in them)
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa ( I actually didn't have quinoa and used buckwheat kernals instead. It will be good with either)
kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 cup fresh spinach, cut chiffonade
tbsp basil, thinly sliced
2 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated (abt 1/2 cup), optional

Directions

In a lrg heavy bottomed pot, heat oil over medium heat.
Add carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and fennel seeds, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.
Add 6 cups water, beans, tomatoes and quinoa.
Heat to boiling then reduce heat to low and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.
Stir spinach and basil into soup just before serving in bowls.
Garnish each with 1 tbsp cheese, if desired.

Number of Servings: 8