Spring Minestrone

It's a cool day here in KC, in fact this morning one of my Facebook friends posted "June 1st. My furnace is on. What's wrong with this picture?" It does seem a little crazy. At the very least the windows should be opened, but it has just been too darned cold the past couple of nights for even that scenario. This "spring" weather has me craving soup, so I whipped up a batch of spring minestrone. Minestrone is traditionally a heavier dish consisting of a bit of bacon, a ton of winter veggies, all cooked for a long time with pasta added at the end. The pasta soaks up a lot of the cooking liquid, making the soup thick and creamy without adding cream (I mean, you're adding pasta, do you need cream too?) Anyway, this particular recipe uses veggies that are more associated with spring like carrots, asparagus and spinach, but still offers that comforting warmth you want from a bowl of soup. Perfect for a nippy spring day and easy to throw together in the crock pot, this will be your favorite soup…at least until the thermometer hits 90 and you want nothing to do with soup! Enjoy this cool spring while it lasts!

Spring Minestrone (adapted from howsweeteats.com)

1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes (can also use diced)
2 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
6 c. vegetable broth
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
8 oz. uncooked small pasta (ditalini, shells, macaroni whatever you like)
1 bundle asparagus, woody ends trimmed then cut into 1" pieces
1 c. frozen edamame (can also use peas, I just don't like peas!)
1 (6 oz.) bag baby spinach
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving if desired

Place the onion, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, beans, broth, salt and pepper in a 6 quart slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours, stirring once or twice if you can while cooking.

About 10-15 minutes before serving add the uncooked pasta,
asparagus, edamame, spinach and 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese. Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes then serve immediately with additional cheese if desired!

8 servings (293 calories each serving) according to my calculator on loseit.com)