White Bean and Spinach Soup

My brain is weird. I've had this soup on the menu for about 3 weeks, and I keep skipping it. Every once in awhile, I'll pick out a recipe to try and put it on the menu. Sometimes, later in the week, I find myself wondering why I picked that recipe to make because it doesn't sound appetizing. Ok, so this happens a lot. LOL. When something I've planned doesn't sound good, I change the meal to something that does sound good (logical, right?). Since this dish consists of mostly pantry staples, and only requires the fresh spinach, this soup has been changed at the last minute 3 times. I finally decided last night  it was time to bite the bullet.

I'm reminded why I need to escape my mental roadblocks. This is a good soup! It's also super healthy, providing you with plenty of Vitamin C from the tomatoes, potassium from the white beans, and tons of Vitamin A and K. I served the soup with a hearty, garlic ciabatta bread for dipping, and this ended up being a light, meatless summer dinner. Dinner came together fast too, this is a nice, speedy recipe. Anyhoo, I highly recommend this soup to all my peeps out there watching their summer swimsuit bodies. Delicious and nutritious. I guarantee this soup won't go straight to your hips :)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can tomatoes, diced
3 (15 oz) cans reduced sodium vegetable broth
1 cup white rice, cooked
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 (10 oz) package of fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
parmesan cheese (garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add onions and garlic to the pan. Saute 5 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add white beans and tomato paste to the pan, stir until tomato paste has assimilated.
2. Add tomatoes through black pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add spinach to the pot. Cook just until spinach wilts, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with grated parmesan cheese. Serve.

*Recipe adapted from Fitness Magazine*