Making An Effort Monday

In an effort to make more of the things I love -- good food, pretty things, and organized spaces -- I bring you Making An Effort Monday!

I LOVE soup.  I know, I know, sodium, but I try my hardest to lower the sodium in every soup recipe I come across so I feel less guilty about eating soup all the time.


I just tried this new soup, and I was geeked because the ingredients include KALE!!  I haven't had yummy soup with kale since I spent the summer living on Cape Cod.  Yum.


Here's the recipe (slightly modified from a Family Circle recipe -- click HERE for the original):

Pasta Fagioli

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used EVOO)
1 onion, diced (I used a half of an onion and diced on the larger size)
3 cloves garlic (I used 5)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (I used low-sodium version)
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (I ended up having to add WAY more after I got all the ingredients in because there was NONE ... I got very angry.)
8 ounces (about 2 cups) small pasta shells (I used Barilla Plus -- with protein and Omega-3)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I make my own mix and probably added closer to 1 Tablespoon)
1 bunch fresh kale, tough stems discarded, cut into 1-inch pieces and washed (NOTE:  I thought maybe "removing the stems" meant just cutting off the bottom.  It doesn't.  Cut the stem out of the middle all the way up, essentially splitting the leaf in half.)
2 cans small white beans, drained and rinsed (I WANTED to use canellini or navy beans, but I happened to go on a day they were on sale and they were OUT, so I had to use one can of Great Northern beans and one can of Chick Peas -- while I love these beans, they were NOT the right flavor for this soup, and I think they cook much too slowly to be suitable for this soup.  If I use this recipe again, I will definitely use Navy beans, which cook the fastest and I think have the mildest flavor.)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Grated Parmesan, for serving


DIRECTIONS
1.  Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add onion and cook 5 minutes.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute.
2.  Stir in tomatoes, broth, and 3 cups water.  Bring to a simmer over high heat.  Add pasta and Italian seasoning.  Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
3.  Stir in kale; cook 5 minutes more.  Reduce heat to medium and stir in beans, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  Heat through (Like I mentioned before, just "heating through" didn't work for the beans I used.  They did not taste very cooked).
Serves 8.


Here are the Nutrition Facts for the original recipe:

And here's how it looked:

Veronica's final rating: 3.5 stars.  If it had different beans and I could figure out how to have enough broth without having to add it in at the end and lose all the flavor, then my rating would be higher.  I might mess around with it a bit.

Jeremy's final rating:

I was hoping for a new, easy, go-to Italian soup.  Meh.  It made me long for my favorite Italian soup.

BONUS RECIPE!

Tortellini Soup 

(adapted from Taste of Home Heart-Warming Soups - book I bought in the checkout line at Kroger 5 years ago)

INGREDIENTS

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cans (14.5 ounces each) low-sodium vegetable broth

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

3 large handfuls fresh spinach (or 1 10-ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry)

DIRECTIONS

In a saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil until tender.  Stir in the broth.  Bring to boil.  Stir in tortellini; cook for 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in tomatoes and spinach; heat through.

Super easy and DELICIOUS!


Brag about your own efforts in the comments!  Happy Monday!