A delicious, light meal or snack for a cold or rainy day! *Minestra* means soup in Italian, and minestrone is a thick, vegetable soup. This is a high dietary fiber recipe due to all the vegetables, beans and small amount of whole grain. The carbohydrates derive mostly from the vegetables and beans. You may wish to add more protein by adding some chopped, cooked chicken or tofu.



 

    Serves: 4 servings    Total Time:  30 minutes Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes  

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## Ingredients

[Substitution Guide](/nourishing-our-community/teaching-kitchen/substitution-guide)

 Celery - 3 stalks  Carrots - 3 large  Onion - 1 small  Oil - 2 Tablespoons canola, avocado, peanut, sesame or light olive oil Zucchini  - 1 medium Diced\_tomatoes - 1 (14.5-oz) can Beans - 1 (15.5-oz) can kidney beans or other beans of choice Pearled\_barley - ¼ cup (sub quinoa) Salt - ½ teaspoon  Pepper - ½ teaspoon  Seasoning - 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning (or dried herbs of choice) Broth - 4 cups (1 liter) chicken or vegetable broth 

## Instructions

Step 1

Finely chop the celery, carrots,onion, and zuchini and add to a stockpot.

Step 2

Add 2 Tablespoons oil to the stock pot with the chopped celery, carrots and onion, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes (or until soft).

Step 3

While the vegetables are cooking, rinse the kidney beans using a colander. 

Step 4

Once the vegetables have cooked for 10 minutes, add the white kidney beans, barley, diced tomatoes, italian seasoning, and broth to the stockpot and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat to low. 

Step 5

Let cook for 20 minutes. 

 

### Notes

Sodium content for this recipe is based on no-salt-added broth and low sodium, canned beans. To reduce the salt content, omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the recipe.

## Nutrition Information

  Calories: 306 Calories Fat: 9.5g Saturated Fat: 1.6g Carbohydrates: Net Carb: 44g Dietary Fiber: 10.7g Protein: 14.5g Sodium: 662g  

## Dietary Restrictions

 Vegetarian