Would you like to shed light on your calories after your vacation? This is a warm and cozy vegetarian soup that can be made in just 15 minutes without breaking the calorie bank.
To speed up cooking, I used the largest saucepan I had. It’s really a Dutch oven or pasta pot. The large diameter makes it faster to fry mushrooms and onions.
Many Italians like to run out of leftover bread by covering the slices with vegetables and baking them over a wood fire. A delicious result is a crostini or a “small toast”. Herbal goat cheese crostini is a great side dish for soups.
Helpful tips:
• You can use any kind of pasta or marinara sauce. Read the label carefully and buy one that is low in sodium.
• Buy sliced button mushrooms.
• You can use white or red beans instead of canelini beans.
• You can use leftover bread for crostini.
countdown:
• Start the soup.
• Prepare the crostini while the soup is being cooked.
Things to buy:
To buy: 1 lb of sliced mushrooms, 1 small jar or can of low sodium pasta sauce, olive oil spray, 1 can of canelini beans, 1 bottle of smoked paprika, 1 container of unsalted vegetable broth, 1 package Goat cheese with herbs, 1 whole grain French baguette.
Staples: olive oil, onions, salt, peppercorn.
Country mushroom soup
Recipe by Lindagassenheimer
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- 1 lb of sliced mushrooms (about 6 cups)
- 1 cup of sliced onions
- 1 1/2 cup low salt pasta sauce
- 1 1/2 cup unsalted vegetable soup
- 1 cup of canerini beans, rinse and drain
- 3 teaspoons of smoked paprika
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil over medium to high heat in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add mushrooms and onions and fry for 4-5 minutes. Add pasta sauce, soup, beans and smoked paprika. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and leave the lid on until needed.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 382 calories (22% from fat), 9.2g fat (1.4g saturated, 3.0g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 23.9g protein, 57.9g carbohydrates, 13.8g fiber, 131mg Sodium.
Herb cheese crostini
Recipe by Lindagassenheimer
- 1/4 whole grain French baguette, sliced into 4 slices
- Olive oil spray
- 2 oz garlic herb goat cheese, room temperature
Preheat the broiler or oven toaster. Cut the bread diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Spray with olive oil spray. Spread with cheese. Place under the broiler for a minute and a half or until the cheese melts.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 181 calories (55% from fat), 11.1 g fat (4.4 g saturated, 4.9 g monounsaturated), 10 mg cholesterol, 6.5 g protein, 16.6 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 265 mg Sodium.
Linda Gassenheimer is the author of over 30 cookbooks, including the latest “The 12-Week Diabetes Cookbook”. Listen to Linda at www.WDNA.org and all major podcast sites. Email her at Linda@DinnerInMinutes.com. © 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
