Minestrone: BIG Beans and Greens Soup - Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals

I really like to try different kinds of soups and add them to our winter recipes. Especially recipes like this one help get more vegetables into the whole family and that is so healthy during cold and flu season. I know we're coming to the end of that now with the first day of spring being tomorrow, but here in Iowa, we can be cold into April very easily. A few years ago we even had snow in May and was super fun for Big Man who was about three at the time. So we are still keeping soup in the rotation at our house right now.

This recipe had a much longer ingredient list than many of the other recipes in this book and I liked that a lot because there were more fresh, whole ingredients. Hubby was not thrilled about this soup not having meat in it, but I like to include some vegetarian meals in our diet periodically. I first tried minestrone soup once when I went to Olive Garden and you get to pick soup or salad before your meal. I opted for the soup and it became a favorite of mine. The tomato and chicken broth with vegetables, bean, and pasta floating in it and the Italian flavors is something I can make a meal out of. I have tried a few other recipes to try and make the soup, but have not had much luck in the past. This recipe falls in the Medditerian comfort food section of the cookbook and I knew I wanted to try this soup.

Just looking at the recipe it appeared to have very similar ingredients to what Olive Garden probably puts in their soup, but I do not have access to their secret recipe so I can not know for certain. When I was cooking this soup I let it simmer for about five minutes longer than the recipe suggested because Hubby does not like crunchy vegetables, particularly celery, in his soup. I also wanted to let the flavors mix together for a little bit longer. Even though I let it cook for a little longer than suggested the soup did come together very quickly and easily.

Bear was immediately unhappy that we were having soup for supper. The other boys didn't seem thrilled either, but they didn't complain. In the end, Big Man had three servings of the soup. Then when he was dawdling, getting ready for school this morning, I got to make his lunch. In our house, that means that Mom gets to pick what you eat for lunch and that means leftovers! So Big Man got extra Minestrone soup in his thermos for lunch today. He wasn't too broken up about it, but hopefully he gets ready faster tomorrow.

As far as the taste goes, we enjoyed the soup. It had good flavor for as quickly as it was put together and cooked. Hubby wanted something with more calories for his personal preference. Another time I think I should serve it with salad or breadsticks like they do at Olive Garden.

Timing: Recipe States: 30 minutes, My Actual Timing: 40 minutes
Servings: Recipe States: 6 servings, Servings For My Family: 8 servings
Leftovers: The soup was great the next day, I had some for lunch too.


Family Ratings:
Hubby: He thought it was good soup, but he wanted something more substantial as a meal.
Big Man: He enjoyed the soup so much he had three bowls full.
Bear: He was not a big fan, but he ate it once it was cool enough after just one complaint that it was soup. So big win with Bear!
Mr. T: He liked that the soup had noodles so there was no problem for Mr. T.

Will I repeat: Yes.

What will I change: I would add some breadsticks or a salad on the side to make Hubby happier.