Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup is a classic Italian broth-based soup filled with all manner of vegetables, plus a healthy dose of fiber-rich beans and some pasta. As with many ethnic recipes, it's hard to find one, universally accepted minestrone recipe, yet it appears on almost every Italian menu. In general minestrone happens to be naturally low in fat, though many like to add swirls of olive oil parmesan to it.

Now the beauty of homemade soup is that you can control the ingredients, and not just the fat content (see Six Low Fat, Low Calorie Soups). You can also control the sodium content, which can be a big problem with many popular canned soups. This minestrone soup could be high in sodium but I look for reduced-sodium broths, reduced-sodium beans, which I rinse thoroughly (which can reduce the sodium content by about 40%), and no-salt-added tomatoes. Lack of sodium shouldn't mean lack of flavor, however, just a slight adjustment for your tastebuds. You can compensate by flavoring your soup with herbs and some freshly ground pepper. This way you get to enjoy the flavor of the vegetables themselves, without them being somewhat masked by saltiness. Of course, if you wish to season your soup differently, that's your prerogative.

Nutritional Tips

A couple of extra suggestions: Make this minestrone soup gluten free by using gluten free broth (e.g., Pacific Foods or Kitchen Basics brands), and gluten-free pasta such as Tinkyada brand or Trader Joe's rice pasta. If gluten isn't an issue, you can add a little nutritional boost by using whole-grain pasta instead of regular pasta. You can also make this soup vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Feel free, too, to use spinach instead of kale, and white beans instead of kidney beans.