Well, week #11 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week didn't go so well. A flu-like illness hit several of us in our house. With no appetite and no energy, the last thing I wanted to do was experiment in the kitchen. So my focus last week was on rest and recovery. 

As my appetite returned, I was craving a comforting, nourishing soup. I found this copycat Olive Garden minestrone recipe on geniuskitchen.com and decided to give it a try. It didn't disappoint.

What I like about this recipe (besides the fact that it's healthy):

• Who doesn't love Olive Garden's minestrone soup?
• It smells so good as it's cooking. 
• It's delicious with warm bread and a side salad for dinner. 
• It refrigerates nicely for lunches through the week.  

What I ended up using/doing:

(I pretty much doubled the recipe so that I'd have plenty of leftovers for lunches. The original recipe only calls for about half this amount.) 

Saute:

• 2 small yellow onions, diced
• 2 cups frozen green beans (I used French-cut.)
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 cup julienned carrots (I cut them into short pieces.)
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• A drizzle of olive oil (if you use oil) or a bit of the vegetable broth (listed below), to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan

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Add and bring to a boil:

• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes
• 4 15-oz cans dark red kidney beans 
• 4 15-oz cans great northern beans or small white beans (I used a couple cans of each.)
• 3 tsp dried oregano
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

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Turn off the heat and add at the end:

• 2 small zucchini, cubed
• 1 1/2 cups (dry) small shell pasta, cooked in water separately and drained
• 8 cups fresh baby spinach

In a large pot, saute the first 6 ingredients over medium heat until the onions start to become translucent. Then add the next 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. To avoid overcooking the zucchini, pasta, and fresh baby spinach, I added these at the end, after turning off the heat.  

Enjoy!

RECIPES Page

This post was originally published on March 20, 2018.