Minestrone Soup Recipe

2 quarts low sodium vegetable broth or chicken bone broth

1 lb ground turkey (shredded chicken breast would also be great)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and quartered

1 medium red pepper, chopped

2 tsp garlic, minced

2 zucchini, quartered

1 can petite diced tomatoes, fire-roasted

1 ½ cups fresh green beans, chopped into bite-size pieces (can also use 1 can of green beans, drained)

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch of Lacinato kale (this is the dark green leafy kale), chopped into thin strips

1 cup green lentil pasta (I used ½ a box of Tolerant Green Lentil Elbows), optional

2 bay leaves

3 tsp basil, dried

1 tsp ground sage

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp seasoned pepper, optional

1 tsp crushed red pepper, optional

Salt + pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven/soup pot, cook the ground turkey with a drizzle of olive oil to help it from sticking and salt + pepper to taste. Once fully cooked, removed from pot and set aside for later.

2. To the same pot, sauté the carrots, onion, celery and red pepper together with the olive oil until the onion is slightly caramelized and translucent. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Next, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot except the pasta and kale. Let simmer on low to medium heat for about an hour (if you don’t have this long, let it simmer for at least 30 min or until the vegetables are cooked through). Then add the pasta and the kale 30 minutes before serving (for a total of 1 ½ hours cooking time).

4. Pick the bay leaves out and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on top. Enjoy.