I have been craving some soup with all this cold, rainy, dreary weather.  I’ve been a bit bored with the usual vegetable soup I make so I decided to look for a new recipe to change things up a bit.  I’m so glad I did because this turned out fabulous!  Like most soups and Italian dishes it got better with age.  This recipe makes a huge pot so I froze 1/2 have it for a convenient dinner later. 

Ingredients

Adapted from this recipe

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
• 1 small chopped zucchini
• 1 can green beans(drained) or 1 cup frozen green beans
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 cups organic vegetable broth (*do not use chicken)
• 1 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) cans small white beans or great northern beans, drained
• 1 (14 ounce) can Italian diced tomatoes
• 2 large carrots cleaned and cut
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3-5 cups hot water
• 4 cups fresh mustard greens
• 1 cup orzo

Directions

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.

Saute onion, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.

Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Add mustard greens and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.

Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings.

This turned out extremely flavorful and filling.  Until this past year I had never tried mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard…no dark greens at all…ever. To be honest they scared me! Ha- I’m so glad that I finally decided to give them a try because I now love them all (especially KALE!!) They are such a great addition to soups and rice.  Their nutrition benefits are outstanding and they add so much flavor to dishes.  If you have not experimented with them I highly suggest that you do.   

I was a bit surprised to see my 3.5-year-old eating this soup.  She’s going through a phase where she refuses to try anything new.  Unless its a new candy of course.  :shakes head: But she must have been hungry because she ate the green beans, pasta and beans out of this soup.  She would of course not even attempt to try the greens but at least she ate around them.