Chickpea Minestrone

Another day of this polar-vortex winter, another cozy bowl of soup :)

Yes, it's still cold here. Right now. However, it is supposed to be 55º today. Hopefully that melts the remainder of the snow on the ground and our lane. I'm officially done with the snow. As per normal, the weather looks to be cray-cray this week. The local news has been touting severe thunderstorm risk on Thursday, which is supposed to be 60º. Craziness, I tell you. While this week is going to be warm, last week was cold, cold, COLD.  In other words, soup weather.

I really liked this soup! It has just the right amount of spice. Just enough so you could feel a little heat, but not hot enough to hurt. In truth, I like any chunky soup that's mostly vegetables. Pasta doesn't hurt either. I used chicken broth to make my soup, but you could make this vegetarian by subbing vegetable broth. You could even make it vegan by omitting the cheese topping. The hubby isn't fond of chickpeas, so I was a little nervous to serve this to him. It turns out I didn't have to be nervous, he loved it. The soup is a good coverup for the taste of the chickpeas, making this a good soup if you have any chickpea-haters in your household.

Well, I'm off. I've got another busy day on hand. Gym, eye appointment, hard boiling eggs and making lunch burritos for the hubby, making dinner (SW Chopped Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing), clipping coupons from the weekend, and maybe squeezing in some reading time. I've got library books that need to go back in 2 days that I haven't finished. Eek! Looks like I'll be checking them out again :)

Happy Tuesday friends!

Ingredients (serves 6):

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (substitute vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
4 oz. short pasta
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (10 oz) package of fresh spinach
Garnish: fresh grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When warm, add onion through garlic. Sauté 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Add garlic to pan, sauté 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes through crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. While soup is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, set aside, and keep warm.
4. Add chickpeas and spinach to pot. Heat for 1 minute, or until spinach wilts. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with cheese. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Kitchen Daily

Linked to: Weekend Potluck