Minestrone Soup

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Minestrone has always been a favorite soup, especially with some whole-wheat bread sticks.  Add a nice big salad and you have an easy, delightful, nutritious meal. I think of Dr. Michael Greger’s daily dozen for optimum health.  Here we have legumes, greens, additional vegetables, whole grains, and spices; well on our way, especially if we add a sprinkling of nuts to the salad greens.

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Minestrone Soup

Servings:   6 1/2 - 7 cups
Cook Time:   25-30 minutes
Ingredients:

For Sauté:

2 tsp olive oil—or sauté in a little broth

1/2 large (1 1/4 cups) red or white onion, chopped

3/4 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced in 1″ lengths

1 stick celery, chopped

1 large (3/4 cup) carrot, sliced

2 tsp minced garlic

For Kettle:

1 cup vegetable broth

3 cups hot water

3/4 cup green beans cut in 1″ pieces—peas also work

1 tbsp chicken-style seasoning–-to make your own, see Chick-Like Seasoning

1 tbsp fresh minced parsley or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

Final Addition:

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 small (3/4-1 cup) sliced zucchini

1/2 cup pasta sauce*

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

1 can well-rinsed Cannelloni beans—or bean of your choice

1/2 cup (rounded) whole-grain pasta spirals

Additional broth if needed to adjust thickness

Instructions:
  1. Put the sauté ingredients in a large stock pot. Sauté lightly until nicely wilted. For fat-free use 1-2 tbsp of broth.
  2. Add the kettle ingredients and bring to a boil, turn to simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
  3. Stir in the final ingredients, return to a boil, reduce heat but keep it simmering. Be sure and cover the kettle.  Simmer an additional 10-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
Notes:

*I freeze leftover pasta sauce from a spaghetti meal.  It works great for recipes like this.