Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup will warm your belly and your toes while supplying your body with the greatest natural nutrients for good health. A doctor dreams his patients include recipes like this in their diet. Low-fat, low-calorie, fiber-rich, and filling to boot! This is a great recipe for feeding your whole family.
Trying Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup for the First Time
The first time I tried this recipe was for a Teacher Appreciation luncheon. At the elementary school, all the parents received an email from the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) requesting families sign up to bring items for lunch for the teachers. It was the kick off to parent teacher conferences. The first day was a full day of regular class. Then, instead of getting to have a dinner break, the teachers had only the time between scheduled parent conferences. For this reason, the PTA hoped to provide the meal at school. With volunteers for making the meal, it would not end up in a school expense to order pizzas. Plus, because it was fall, they decided a soup, sandwich and treats menu would be ideal.
What to Bring?
There are some 38-42 teachers I believe. I watched the sign up list. Initially, I thought I would maybe get some rolls or supply the paper plates or plastic spoons. But those slots filled quickly and by the time I looked, were all divided and taken care of by others. Waiting for more people to start signing up, I decided to make my Homemade Cream of Mushroom soup.
I have eaten the canned condensed with the red and white label for years. Using it on my pork chops, tuna casserole and other quick family casseroles and recipes. I love it straight too, out of the can, add a bit of water and/or milk, heat it up and love it.
But I watched the Food Network shows a lot. Finally, I saw a contestant make a homemade cream of mushroom soup and I thought, Wow! That was easy enough. I can do that. I tried it and loved it. That would be a perfect, classic soup to share with the teachers.
I continued to watch. One person signed up to bring a Chicken Tortilla Soup. Oh, good. I don’t have any recipes for that and its a good alternate option. Then another person signed up to bring a Broccoli Cheese Soup. Great! It’s starting to pick up. Only it didn’t. For days, nobody else signed up. I thought, there is no way our three soups, even if we all double our recipes, triple our recipes, no way will it be enough to feed the staff. I buried myself back into my Comfort Soups and Chili recipes and came up with a couple more.
My Strategy for Selecting Soups
The mushroom soup is meatless but has cream and is classic. I decided to do another cream soup but it is completely pureed and is smooth and silky, whereas the mushroom soups has the chunky mushrooms. The soup is called Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup and tastes perfect for the season. I have done this soup a couple times so knew it wouldn’t be too difficult to make. I figured it would go over well because I have been told it was so good someone thought it was a gravy for their Thanksgiving Dinner plate. Nope, but a nice soup to have in cups with your turkey meal.
Then I figured, I need to move away from the cream based soups and provide a meaty, hearty chili. Not too spicy but with bold flavor and fitting for the carnivore. Meat lovers do not get satiated on creamy soups or vegetable soups. I have done a number of different chili preparations but the one in recent year to be the biggest hit is my lil’ Smokie Chili. I created this one on my own and had to go back and guess measurements to write down a recipe. Lastly, I felt the soup bar for the teachers needed a vegetarian option.
Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup It Is!
Preparing Four Soups for Transport
Sometimes, I don’t think things through. For instance, how was I going to transport four hot soups in crockpots without sealed lids to the school? Carrying them from my kitchen, through the house, to the car. Loading and then driving over speed bumps and in dips meant to slow traffic in areas with a regular population of children. It was a crazy morning but I came up with a plan. In the morning, I had my friend take the crockpots to the school, fill them with water from the teacher’s lounge sink and turn them on. This would warm them up so when I brought the soups, they would stay warm.
I cooked the soups in stock pots and roasters at home. Next, I found a big container and set a large gallon size bag in to the container. Then, I poured the soup into the bag until it was full with room left for me to close the zipper seal. I repeated this for all the soup. When we arrived later with the hot soup and made the swap from water to soup, it worked GREAT!
The End Result of My Efforts
I am pleased to report, the soups were eaten. Chili too. Every last bit of it. There wasn’t a drop leftover! Not only that but I had requests to share my recipes. Now, here I am a couple years later with an opportunity to share them again. I am so blessed to have found my current job, being able to work from home, have a flexible schedule, connect with the best people and have an outlet to share my stories, my recipes and extraordinary online deals and offers. It’s exciting! Please join me as I continue to build and share on my website.
Today, I am sharing this superbly Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup recipe.
Ingredients:
(Serves 6-10)
Prep time: 45 min. approx. Cook Time: 20 min. approx.
| 1 | 15 oz. | ( | can | ) | low sodium canellini beans, drained and rinsed | |
| 1 | tbs. | ( | tablespoon | ) | olive oil | |
| 1 | c. | ( | cup | ) | onion, diced = 1/2 large onion | |
| 1/2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | celery, diced = 2 celery stalks | |
| 1/2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | carrot, diced = 2 carrots | |
| 1/2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | zucchini, diced = 1 small zucchini | |
| 1 | clove garlic, minced = 1 tsp. of garlic paste | |||||
| 1 | Tbs. | ( | tablespoon | ) | fresh thyme, chopped = 1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried | |
| 1/2 | tsp. | ( | teaspoon | ) | sage, dried = 2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped | |
| 1/2 | tsp | ( | teaspoon | ) | salt | |
| 1/4 | tsp. | ( | teaspoon | ) | pepper | |
| 1 | 32-oz. | ( | ounce | ) | carton vegetable or chicken broth (low sodium) = 1 box (dollar store) | |
| 1 | 14.5 oz. | ( | can | ) | no salt added diced tomatoes | |
| 2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | baby spinach leaves, chopped = 12.5 oz. frozen spinach or 3.5-4 oz. fresh spinach | |
| 2/3 | c. | ( | cup | ) | freshly grated parmesan, optional |
What You Will Need:
| 1 | large stock cooking pot | |||||
| 1 | soup ladle | |||||
| 1 | cutting board | |||||
| 1 | knife | |||||
| 1 | measuring cup | |||||
| 1 | measuring spoon | |||||
| 1 | can opener | |||||
| 1 | wooden spoon | |||||
| 1 | small bowl |
Steps to Make Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup:
- In a small bowl, mash half of beans with masher or back of spoon; set aside.
- Use knife and cutting board to chop all vegetables; set aside.
- Heat oil in stock pot over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped vegetables to oil; saute until tender.
- Stir occasionally; approx. 5 minutes.
- Add broth and tomatoes with the juice; bring to a boil.
- Next, add mashed and whole beans. Stir in gently and thoroughly.
- Then add spinach leaves; cook until leaves are wilted; approx. 3 minutes.
To Serve:
Hot in a bowl, topped with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
You can also make Parmesan frico chips.
Suggested Wine Pairing
This is a delightful, warming soup. Generally, white wines are wonderful for pairing with broth based soups. A Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio would be great with this soup. However, the heartiness and acidity of the tomatoes in the soup also make this a soup that pairs well with a fuller bodied wine, a red wine. A Syrah, in my opinion, would be a great match for this soup. Fortunately, I rely on my monthly wine club to keep my wine options open and available. If you are interested, learn more about the fine wines you could receive for pairing with your dinners too!
Special Tips:
Health Benefits
Finding and incorporating healthy foods in our lives is not always easy. Temptations of fried fatty treats are at every corner. But who wants to be on a perpetual diet? My approach is to look for foods I like and learn how they are beneficial for my health. Granted, I seek information on the ones I like. I haven’t focused too much on foods I don’t like. My list is in progress and includes spices and herbs. I have data on vitamins too. Its been a work in progress for a few years and a collaboration of multiple online sources. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to document those and only extracted the essential benefits for my own purpose of reference. But I’ll bet when you look around the internet enough, you will find similar resources, possibly the same.
- This summary of collected tidbits from internet resources is not intended as a medical guide. Only available beneficial information is shown, negative side effects and other warnings have not been included. The effectiveness and accuracy of any health benefit are subject to opinion and varying outcomes from different studies and reports. Refer to your medical provider or nutritionist when considering any changes.
The Diet Plan
By educating myself on the nutrition value, I am motivated to make healthier choices. Obviously, all choices are meant to be in moderation and any diet changes should be approved by your medical provider. However, I enjoy apples. Here is why I will keep apples on my menu:
Apples – bone protection, asthma help, Alzheimer’s prevention, lung cancer, breast/ovarian/prostate and colon/liver cancer, lowers cholesterol, weight loss, diabetes management, source of fiber, reduce risk of heart disease, anti-inflammatory
I have heard since I was an itty bitty kid, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Reviewing all the health benefits of apples, I understand why the phrase stuck around. I sounds like an all around great option for men and women, kids of all ages. Are you ready to add apples to your menu? And for a snack, try dried apples or apples with a caramel dip. Keeps hunger pains at bay. Watch the number on the scale drop. Now you know my method for creating a nutritional diet plan. Let’s discover health benefits for ingredients used to make the above soup.
Health Benefits of Healthy Tuscan Vegetable Soup Ingredients
Celery
Celery – Rich in vitamin K, folate, vitamin A, potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, a great source of dietary fiber. Good diet food due to high water content, low calorie snack with a crunch for texture, helps prevent liver disease, fights infections, prevents ulcers, reduces risk of urinary tract infections, cures bloating and improves digestion, lowers inflammation
Thyme
Thyme – increases blood-flow to the skin, An anti-spasmodic, treating bronchitis, mood lifter, expectorant to ease coughing, mouthwash to clean bacteria in mouth, prevent heart disease, cleanser for minor wounds, cuts and scrapes, ease stomach and bowel problems, diuretic, mixed with water to kill mildew, menstrual cramps, rid body of ringworm parasites
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