Veggie Mushroom Pasta Fagioli Soup: Great for a Working Lunch!

Adapted for VitaClay from Weight Watchers. 

Suitable for all Vitaclay Models.

Image Courtesy of Pinterest 

I like to take my lunch to work, but on chilly days sometimes a cold sandwich just isn’t very appetizing, and sandwiches get boring.

When VitaClay came out with the personal sized slow cooker and yogurt maker (model VS7600-2) I realized it was so small and cute I could keep it on my desk at work. Now I can make a big batch of soup or stew and bring it to work without worrying about keeping it warm. Just prior to lunch time I just toss my lunch into the cute little clay pot and heat it up for a few minutes. Voila! A warm, healthy, hearty lunch fresh at my desk! You should see all of the co-workers that start hanging around my desk as the delicious aromas start wafting! You might have to bring enough to share!

This light, vegetarian soup is a wonderful lunch idea or a great appetizer for a nice dinner. And to “beef it up,” all you have to do is add… beef! (Or sausage, chicken, shrimp…)

Ingredients:

• 1 T coconut oil
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 T sliced fresh garlic
• ½ t crushed red pepper (optional)
• 4 c vegetable broth
• 2 14.5oz cans unsalted fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 15.5oz can unsalted red kidney beans, undrained
• ½ t real salt
• 1 c uncooked ditalini pasta
• Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. (Optional step) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the mushrooms to the skillet; cook until browned; about 6 minutes. Add the onion to the skillet; cook until the onion is tender and the mushrooms are well browned. 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and crushed red pepper; cook until the garlic begins to soften, about 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup of broth to the skillet; bring to a boil, stirring and scraping to loosen the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
4. Transfer the mushroom mixture to VitaClay. (If you don’t want to brown everything, you can just throw everything in the cooker).
5. Stir in tomatoes, beans, salt, and remaining 3 cups of broth. Cover and cook on “soup” or “slow” until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 hour.
6. Add pasta; cover and cook on slow/soup until the pasta is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

PER SERVING: (serving size: 1 ½ cups) Calories 220; Fat 3.3g (sat 0.4g; mono 1.6g; poly 0.3g) Protein 10g; Carb 35g; Fiber 9g; sugars 8g; Chol 0mg; Iron 2mg; Sodium 326mg; Calc 93mg

SMARTPOINTS VALUE PER SERVING: 5