Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Minestrone Soup.

Jack and I have always sort of planned our meals for the week to know exactly what to buy at the grocery store. It's such a pain to go in and not know what you need and you end up getting stuff you don't use and spending double so a list helps a lot. Coming up with that list is what's so hard! So as we are having breakfast Sunday morning (our usual day to do the shopping) we jot down what it is that we will be having. It's hard because we don't know if we will be craving that particular meal but we try to come up with dishes that are simple and quick but still good and healthy.

Some meals are regulars in our menu but lately I feel like I have been making the same things over and over and it gets tiring and boring! In an effort to start with brand new recipes, I resorted to my handy app that I've been using since Jack and I got married. It's called Spark Recipes and it is awesome. You can find recipes by category, or you can search for one you want. It also gives you really easy directions and it even tells you how many calories each recipe is!

This past week we decided that our meals would be light, quick, healthy but still hearty so we decided on some good soups and salads. We both love minestrone soup but are aware of how much sodium the ones from the restaurants contain. I found one on this app and bought all the ingredients. The best part? You don't have to add any salt! All the flavor is in the herbs and spices. I made it last night and thought I'd share the recipe because it is so so good!

You'll need-
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, cut up with juice. (I actually got two of the 14 oz cans already cut with low sodium)
2 tbsp. parsley
1&1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf
5 cups vegetable broth (again, low sodium)
1/4 cup of any whole wheat pasta you like, we used rotini which to be honest isn't the best but it was okay.
2 cans of beans (we used black beans & cannelini-low sodium)
2 cups desired veggies- we used zucchini & carrot

Cook onion, garlic & celery until tender. Add the tomatoes with juice and all herbs & pepper. Add broth. Let it simmer for a while then add the veggies, simmer for a while longer, add the pasta and beans then cook until pasta is ready. See how simple it is?



We paired it up with healthy grilled cheese sandwiches. We used whole wheat bread, American cheese and used a little bit of olive oil instead of butter.


Elliot loved it too! I actually dipped the bread in the soup before giving it to him so that he wouldn't choke on it. Tonight we are making taco salad bowls! I'll share that recipe too!

8 comments:

  1. Your food posts always look so yummy! My husband would divorce me if I tried serving soup for dinner (he has a hearty appetite). ha!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yum!!!! We made minestrone last night too!!! :)

    wordsaboutwaverly.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yum and yum! Grilled cheese and soup is one of our standard weeknight meals too. Love this recipe - going to have to try it soon! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That soup looks really delicious. Perfect for a night like tonight where I am. I'm loving your food posts, keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That meal is right up my alley! I'm pretty much a vegetarian so yum!!! Not a huge meat eater over here & neither is b!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This looks delicious! I am totally adding it to my recipes to work on! :)

    www.sparklingfootsteps.com

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your sweet comments! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...