meatless monday: tuscan vegetable soup

I have a go-to soup that I like to make quite often. Yup- surprise, surprise- it’s an Ellie Krieger recipe! It’s in her cookbook The Food You Crave. I just made it the other day, and looky here I even managed to take a couple pictures before the baby woke up screaming and the other kid garlic-pressed garlic all over my opened cookbook.

Tuscan Vegetable Soup– Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium canellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 carrots, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, diced, (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, optional

Directions

In a small bowl mash half of the beans with a masher or the back of a spoon, and set aside. {I like to leave more than half of the beans whole.} Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

{raw veggies just added to the pot}

{here are the veggies once they’ve cooked. I always cook them awhile longer than it says here to be sure they’re tender. I find you could use a little more oil, too.}

Add the broth and tomatoes with the juice and bring to a boil. Add the mashed and whole beans and the spinach leaves and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes more.

{I’ve always made this recipe with the ingredients listed, but you could definitely substitute different veggies. This time I didn’t have any spinach so I used cabbage instead. It was a heartier touch than the spinach usually is. Oh, and I’ve always used chicken broth in mine.}

{the finished soup}

Serve topped with Parmesan, if desired.

{I always serve mine topped with parmesan, and with a side of crusty bread.}

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Last year on this date: bullet point Sunday by Anne