Garden Minestrone

The creators of this recipe claim it's a copy cat of Olive Garden's Minestrone Soup, which is an all-time favorite of mine.

While this soup is excellent, it's not quite a copy cat of my favorite soup.  It actually reminds me a bit of Progresso's Vegetable Soup, which I used to eat frequently before we started making everything from scratch.

Whether you think it aligns with one of these well-known soups or not, this is a fast, easy and healthy soup recipe that we'll certainly be making again.  One bowl serving is under 300 calories and less than 1.5g of fat!

Garden Minestrone - Adapted from Food.Com

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, quartered
1 C frozen green beans
1 stalk celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 C vegetable broth
1 can Great White Northern Beans, rinsed and drained*
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1/2 C shredded carrot {I used 1 medium carrot, sliced}
1/2 tsp. parsley
1 1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
~2 C hot water
1/4 C red wine
3 C fresh spinach
1/2 C small shell pasta

*You can add another can of beans if you wish, red kidney is recommended

Begin by tossing the veggies into the bottom of your crockpot.  My crockpot is a 4 quart, and this recipe fills it up!  I'd recommend using a larger crockpot, if you have one.  If not, don't add the water while the dish is cooking.  Add the hot water before serving.

Anyway, back to the recipe.  Combine those veggies.

Pour in the vegetable broth.  

Add in the diced tomatoes.  I love salt free and petite diced.  

Add the tomato paste to the mix as well.  

Next up, add the spices.  Reduce the salt even more if your broth is salty and/or your tomatoes are salted.  No need for extra sodium.  

Pour in the beans.  

Add the minced garlic.  

Stir to mix.   

Add in the red wine.  If your crockpot is large enough, add the hot water at this point too.  Mine was not large enough, so I reserved the water and mixed it upon serving.

Close the lid and call it a day.  Cook the soup on low for 6-10 hours.  30 minutes before serving, turn the crockpot to high and add the pasta and spinach.  

Serve the soup warm, garnished with Parmesan cheese, of course.  That's what they do at Olive Garden.  

I ended up adding ~1/8-1/4 C hot water to everyone's bowl.  The water was a great addition, and I added cold water so that we could eat the soup right away without waiting for it to cool down for 10 minutes.  Those crockpots keep things hot!

Have you ever tried a copy cat recipe?  How did it turn out?



Linked to: What's on Your Plate?  

Roasted Vegetable Minestrone

Wowee! This soup is delicious.

It should be.

It originally came from the Pioneer Woman, and she doesn't disappoint.  As always, I modified her recipe to meet our family's favorites, and we absolutely lived this soup.

The roasted veggies were brilliant.  Having soup full of roasted veggies is my idea of a great dinner.

What surprised me about a soup like this is that there is no garlic! I even double and triple checked the recipe, and checked it against the version that Megan posted on her blog a few weeks ago.  My search informed me there is no garlic.  I thought about adding it in, but I didn't.  Honestly, the flavor is amazing without it, and I think it might detract from the delicious roasted veggie flavor.

Roasted Vegetable Minestrone - Adapted from Pioneer Woman

16 oz. mushrooms, cut into 4ths
3 medium zucchini, quartered into thick slices
1 T olive oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste
2 large carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
8 C chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 C small shell pasta
Parmesan cheese

Drizzle the diced zucchini and mushrooms with olive oil.  Then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Place veggies on a foil-lined cookie sheet, or my preferred way - in a glass 9x13 baking dish.

I love roasting veggies this way because clean up is easy and I don't have to use tinfoil. This works really well for our family since we don't like to waste and, we don't like spending excess time scrubbing at veggie stains on our cookie sheets! Just make sure the veggies aren't piled too deep.

Roast veggies at 450 for ~10 minutes, then stir and return to the oven. Continue roasting until veggies are lightly browned. This took our veggies about 20 minutes. I stirred them 2-3 times during the process. Then, set the veggies aside.

Meanwhile, saute onions, carrots and celery in oil over medium heat.  Saute for about 5 minutes until veggies begin to soften.

Pour in the broth, and simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes; simmer for 5 more minutes.

Then, add in the pasta.  Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Add the roasted veggies, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and scoop into bowls.

Then, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Serve warm.

And, enjoy!




This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Your Recipe, My Kitchen.

Cheddar Chicken and Rice Soup

We've been craving soups around here over the past couple of weeks.

Hot, creamy, delicious soups.... oh, how I love fall.

I spied this recipe from Picky Palate for a creamy cheddar chicken and rice soup and we decided to make it {with some adjustments to make it healthier} for dinner on Sunday evening:

• Adjustment #1 - reduce the amount of olive oil to 1 T.  
• Adjustment #2 - eliminate butter.  By thickening the soup a different way, the butter in the sauce can be eliminated.  There are saturated fats in the cheese, so I'll eliminate a few extra grams of fat by removing the butter.  
• Adjustment #3 - use brown rice.  Brown rice is much better for you, and it's easy to hide in the soup!
• Adjustment #4 - use white whole wheat flour as a thickening agent rather than all purpose flour.  If you are GF, use corn starch here.  
• Adjustment #5 - use more homemade chicken broth!  The soup was way too thick to enjoy with only 1 3/4 C chicken broth -- I ended up using 4 C, and still had a thick soup.  

Cheddar Chicken and Rice Soup - Adapted from Picky Palate
{Print Recipe}

1 T olive oil
3 stalks of celery, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 T minced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 C shredded chicken
2 C cooked brown rice
1/4 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 C crumbled bacon, garnish

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Then, add in garlic and heat until the garlic scent is strong.  Add in diced celery and carrots and saute until tender -- about 10 minutes.

Stir in the shredded chicken and minced onion. Coat the veggies and chicken with flour.

 Then, slowly add the chicken broth, stirring after every addition until a creamy sauce is formed.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes until veggies are tender.  

Then, add in the rice, heating until warmed throughout.

Remove from the heat.  Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.  Allow the soup's heat to melt the cheese -- then, scoop into bowls.

Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Enjoy!



This recipe is linked to:

• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Delicious Dishes
• URS: Soups

Best Minestrone Soup

I love a good minestrone soup -- and although the weather tells me soup season is almost left behind for another few months (I don't know about you, but I have a hard time eating soup when it's 90!), I made up one more batch and it was a hit!

I am calling this recipe the best minestrone soup, because, it was, the best minestrone I've had in a long time.  This recipe comes from The Little Brown House, a wonderful blog with tasty recipes -- like homemade crescent rolls!  And, what's better -- I just used veggies I needed to get out of my pantry closet!  The original recipe uses zucchini and broccoli, which I think I'll have to try next time.

The Best Minestrone Soup - Adapted from The Little Brown House

2 C beef broth (low-sodium)
2 C chicken broth (I used homemade)
1 C water (if needed)
4 medium carrots, sliced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
1 can green beans, drained (I'd use fresh, if I had some)
1 large potato, cubed
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Great White Northern Beans
1 C orzo pasta, uncooked

Chop up those veggies!

Combine the broths together in a large stock pot.  Bring to a simmer and add in the carrots, celery and potatoes.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes, covered, until potatoes are tender.

Stir in the tomatoes...

Then, add in the beans and green beans. Season with oregano and basil to taste.

Cover and continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Add in the pasta (any small pasta will do), and cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until the pasta is done. You may need to add 1 C water if there is not enough broth/liquid for the pasta!

Serve up and nice bowl of soup!

It was perfect paired with a thin crust, spinach and tomato pizza. Yummy!

This post is linked to:

• Ingredient Spotlight: Tomatoes