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Clean Cuisine’s Italian Vegetable Soup Staple Recipe
Did you know soup is more filling and more slimming than salad? In a study published in the journal Obesity, a group of participants who enjoyed two servings of soup a day lost 50 percent more weight than those who stuck with solid food. You can enjoy as much soup as you like, anytime you like! Eat it with breakfast or for breakfast. Have it as an afternoon snack, with dinner or along with your lunch. You can also substitute the soup for any soup recipe provided in the Clean Cuisine Challenge Meal Plans. Although it takes about 45-minutes to make from start to finish, this recipe makes A LOT of vegetable soup, so you will have plenty of leftovers that should last at least most of the week. Store leftovers in a BPA-free container (we like Fridge-X Silicone Storage Containers by Xtrema).Simple Stir-In Ideas for Your Vegetable Soup Recipe
A lot of times we eat our vegetable soup as-is sort of like a side dish. But sometimes we make it the main event (especially for lunch) simply by stirring in just 1 or 2 of the following ingredients and make it more like a minestrone:• Frozen organic corn kernels, thawed • Frozen organic petite peas, thawed • Cooked quinoa • Cooked black or brown rice (we like short grain brown rice in my soup) • Boiled new potatoes • Cooked barley • Cooked millet • Beans (all types, such as garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, black beans, etc.) • Organic edamame beans
Kitchen Favorites
Italian Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch kale, trimmed and chopped (about 4 cups)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 leeks, white and green part, sliced into thin rounds and rinsed well
- 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Unrefined sea salt, to taste
- 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Italian Medley Seasoning
- 3 tablespoons almond flour
- 6 carrots, chopped
- 6 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 zucchini, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- ½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Juice from one whole lemon
- 1 large can (28-ounces) whole, peeled tomatoes with juices
- 4 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Pacific Natural Foods)
- 2 cups frozen cut green beans
Instructions
- Steam kale in a steamer basket for 2-3 minutes. Set aside
- Heat the oil in a large heavy non-toxic saucepan (we like 100% green Xtrema Cookware) over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks and garlic; sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, or until vegetables soften. Season with salt to taste. Stir in the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley Seasoning and almond flour.
- Add the carrots and celery to the saucepan. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, or until carrots and celery soften.
- Add the zucchini, thyme and crushed red pepper to the saucepan. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, or until zucchini softens. Season with salt to taste.
- Add the steamed kale and lemon juice and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, crushing them with your clean hands as you go, vegetable broth, lemon juice and frozen green beans. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. Serve chunky as-is or use a handheld stick blender, we like this Cuisinart, for example, and process until smooth and creamy. Serve warm.
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Carissa
Tuesday 3rd of July 2018
Hi Ivy,
I am just wondering if your Italian Vegetable Soup is also good for freezing. I enjoy making soups and freezing them in Mason Jars for a quick lunch on the go when time is short. Would this soup work for that?
Thanks!
Ivy Larson
Thursday 5th of July 2018
Hi Carissa! Yes, the soup freezes beautifully. I should have included that in the recipe. And I love your idea of putting them in Mason jars for a work lunch!