There was a time that I wasn’t very fond of soup. Just wasn’t interested in them at all. Then I started making my own and realized soup is one of the easiest things to make and I love being able to control the fat and sodium. Sorry folks, but soup is not where I want to waste my calories and fat grams. I’d rather have fried chicken.
This is vegetable soup recipe from Mrs. Rachael Ray, the girl who taught me to cook. Kind of. Back when I lived in San Diego and worked the early shift (and didn’t have kids) I’d get home at 3:30pm and watch back to back episodes of Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals. She has serious chopping skills and I learned a lot just from watching her cook. Then I fell in love with Ina and Giada and Bobby and well those are just different stories for a different time.
Back to the soup. It is full of veggies and beans. It is so simple yet so tasty. Kind of like a minestrone without the pasta. I started making this one back in Austin whenever one of us was coming down with a cold. It was therapeutic making this soup and sticking my head over the soup pot while the veggies cooked, inhaling the steam. Ahhh, good stuff. It seems like everyone I’ve talked to lately is getting over a cold, so I thought this would be a good one to share. That plus, there are Christmas cookie recipes all over the blogosphere right now so I figured someone had to keep things on the low calorie side.
If you are feeling sick, or if you are healthy as an ox, you should try this. I honestly feel better after eating this healthy soup.
Remember that our vegetable goal is somewhere between 2 and 3 cups per day depending on your sex and age. This is a perfect way to get your veggies into your diet. Please see chart to find out your goal.
Nutritious Eats Benefits: low calorie, low fat, high fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, potassium, antioxidants
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (the upper end of this is pretty spicy)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 3-4 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (I use no added salt with basil, onion flavor)
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 15-ounce can small white beans (Cannellini or Great Northern white beans)
- 1 10 ounce box frozen cut beans
- Salt and pepper
- Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Add olive oil to a large pot. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, stir. Then add the onions, carrots, celery and zucchini. Cook for 10 minutes
- Add the stock (or broth), tomatoes, tomato sauce, white beans and the frozen green beans.
- Bring the soup to a bubble and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for ~5-10 minutes. Add additional broth if needed.
- Turn off heat. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped basil and grated cheese. Serve with crusty bread or grilled cheese.
Recipe slightly modified from Rachael Ray's 15-minute Tomato and Bean Stoup
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This soup is not your typical vege soup that makes you run for the snack pantry after dinner. It really fills you up and the true vegetable flavor and crunchiness remain. I say this because I’ve have had many soups that are good for the wrong reasons i.e. too salty or oily. When you finish this you feel good and full. That’s how I measure a dinner.
My goodness, this is so easy and super tasty. Everyone around the table thought it was delicious. We will make this soup again.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just finished eating my first serving of the soup and I think it is the best soup I have EVER had. I am retraining myself to eat a largely plant based diet and this was so helpful and delicious!!!! Thank you so much for writing this blog!
You are so welcome Kimberly. I love it too- crazy how simple it is yet it’s so flavorful. Thanks for the comment. 🙂
My mother bugged me for a year to make this soup and when I finally did I knew what she was talking about!! DELICIOUS. Almost can’t stop eating it. Now my daughter and sister make it too. Our “go-to” winter soup.
Aww, so fun! I hadn’t made it in a long time, probably since last winter and I just made it LAST night. So fun to see your message about it today. I even made my husband stop at the store for the fresh basil. Glad you enjoyed it too!
Does anyone have nutritional value? Calories fat etc