This is an easy soup recipe that I found in a magazine years ago and amended to our taste. My kids like it because of the shell pasta. It freezes well so you can save leftovers for a busy day in the future.
Jen’s Tuscan Bean Soup
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
- 2 TB olive oil
- 2 C or 1 can diced tomatoes
- 4 C broth
- 4 C or 2 cans cooked kidney beans
- 2 tsp powdered thyme
- 2 C whole grain seashell pasta
- 1 C packed spinach or chard, chopped (or substitute frozen green peas in a pinch)
- 3/4 tsp sea salt (I prefer Real Garlic salt-I’m addicted to it actually)
First chop your pepper, onion and garlic. The easiest way to do this is with a small chopper. They’re cheap, save a ton of time, and make it hard for kids to pick things out.
Put the chopped onion, pepper and garlic in a pot with the olive oil. Sauté until softened (about 5 min).
Add tomatoes, beans,
and broth. I have some broth powder I use, but this time I used some liquid bouillon I bought at Costco. They both work. Homemade is the healthiest, of course.
Prepare your broth before adding to pot.
Simmer for 15-20 min while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Chop your spinach or chard. This can easily be done with a knife. I line up the leaves,
snip off the stems,
and cut into slices.
Measure your thyme,
and salt. Sea salt is much healthier than the bleached, chemicalized iodine stuff at the grocery store, and it tastes considerably better.
Add thyme, salt and pasta to the pot to simmer for 5 minutes. If you let it cook for much longer than this, the pasta will absorb more broth and get very large. This is fine, but I added more water and salt the last time it happened.
Then add the greens last.
Serve with toast or wheat crackers and fresh ground pepper. A one-pot meal. Yum!
