Minestrone Soup

From Clean Eating Online

Author: Clean Eating Online

  • Prep time: 
  • Cook time: 
  • Total time: 

Serves: 8

I love soup! It’s so versatile. You can eat it for lunch or for dinner and it’s easy to make ahead of time and freeze for later. This minestrone soup recipe contains quinoa, which provide the body with amino acids.

Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup fennel, diced
  • 1 cup red onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
  • 1½ cups cooked cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups fresh plum tomatoes, peeled, chopped and seeded
  • ⅓ cup uncooked quinoa
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
  • 3 Tbsp. finely chopped basil
  • 2 oz. Parmesan, grated
Instructions
  1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.
  2. Add carrots, fennel, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme.
  3. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.
  4. Add 6 cups water, beans, tomatoes, and quinoa.
  5. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
  6. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and add salt and pepper.
  7. Stir spinach and basil into soup just before serving.
  8. Garnish each with 1 Tbsp. cheese.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 cup Calories: 137 Fat: 5 g Carbohydrates: 19 g Protein: 5 g

View the original article here:  http://cleaneatingonline.com/minestrone-soup/