Resolve to eat more veggies with Ribollita: A Tuscan Minestrone

A new year inspires many to make improvements to one's health and well-being.  Just glancing through the ads in the Sunday paper, it's easy to see that marketers have easily tapped into our desire to set resolutions for ourselves. We surely want to be more fit, organized and on a diet.  If one were so motivated you can embark upon each one of these goals by heading down to the nearest big box store and filling your cart with an exercise ball, running tights, shiny plastic bins with labels, and the latest high fiber, low fat, vitamin laden energy bar. 


But for me resolving to make a personal improvement is considerably harder than buying a cart full of stuff.  I have found greater success through making small changes with a larger goal in mind.  A common management philosophy describes this behavior as eating the elephant one bite at a time.   So as we commence 2012, I will not be making elephant stew, but I will be focused on both increasing my vegetable intake and eating one meatless dinner per week.   I can already hear the collective groan of my carnivorous family upon news of the meatless meal goal.  What they don't realize is that we already eat flavorful meatless meals...just not nearly as often as we should. 


Today's recipe meets both of my 2012 goals easily.  The herbed tomato based broth combined with the veggies and hearty beans is so satisfyingly yummy that you won't miss a meat component in the soup.  My family has further validated this through second helpings without uttering one word about lack of beef.

Happy New Year and good luck on achieving your goals in 2012 however big or small they may be.


Ingredients

2 cup dried great Northern beans
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 leeks, thinly sliced (white part only)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig rosemary, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups kale, cut into 1/2 wide strips
1 medium zucchini, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 cubes vegetable bouillon
6 cups water

Garnish with:
Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

Directions

Rinse and sort beans to remove any pebbles.  Place beans in bowl and cover with hot water; soak for at least one hour.  Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a Dutch oven.  Add onion, leek, carrot and celery.  Saute until soft about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and rosemary and saute for an additional minute.

Drain soaked beans.  Add beans to pot with tomatoes, vegetable bouillon, and 6 cups of water.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer covered for an hour.  Add zucchini and kale.  Simmer an additional 20 minute until zucchini is tender.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of cheese.

Mangia!