Every week at my Weight Watchers meeting, they hand out short newsletters. These are one of my favorite parts of attending meetings; in every newsletter, they have a fantastic recipe. This recipe comes from the March 25-31 issue: Spring Vegetable Soup with Pesto.
See? I told you I liked pesto.
The reality of this soup recipe is that you can probably make it without the pesto and it would be delicious. But why not add the pesto? It just gives it a bit more pizzazz. The newsletter describes that "a touch of pesto adds a bright note to this delicious French-inspired soup." If you swirl the pesto in at the end, it heightens the flavor.
And you can also probably customize this soup recipe, as far as vegetables go. And then of course, I added some pasta. Adding 1 serving of pasta bumps up the points by 5. But if you wanted to keep it near the published point value of 4, substitute the pasta for the cannellini beans.
Ingredients
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup zucchini, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp. garlic, minced
19 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
64 oz. canned/boxed chicken broth
1 box of pasta (I prefer Rotini)
4 tsp. pre-made pesto sauce
salt
1. Over medium heat, warm olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven.
2. Add celery, carrots, mushrooms, and salt. Cook in the pot for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened.
3. Toss in minced garlic, and cook for one minute.
4. Add the chicken broth. Increase the temperature to high heat and bring to a boil.
5. Stir in zucchini, beans, and tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes, or until flavors have blended.
7. Add peas and cook for an additional five minutes.
6. Add cooked pasta to the soup.
7. Stir in pesto, swirled into soup.
It makes eight servings, so I had plenty leftover for the rest of the week. It was a great side dish to a main course, as well (without the pasta).
Points Plus value: 4 (without pasta); 9 (with pasta)
