katie: normal girl

This week’s recipe was inspired by a recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine.

was in the mood for soup this week so I went combing through all of my recipes and found this great one with noodles, mushrooms and green beans…some of my favorite foods.  This is another recipe that is easy to whip up if you have a last minute vegetarian or vegan guest coming for dinner.  It also makes a great, low-calorie, low-sodium meal for anyone who’s trying to watch their waist line before the holiday eating season begins!

From the Pantry:

• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 6 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 c. no-egg wide-ribbon noodles (these are similar to egg noodles which are vegetarian friendly but not vegan friendly, feel free to substitute with your favorite noodle)
• ¾ tsp. dried Herbs de Provence seasoning mix (if you can’t find a premade mix, use any combination of earthy flavored herbs like, sage, rosemary, thyme and savory)
• kosher salt to taste

From the Garden

• 2 ½ c. (6 oz.) portabella mushrooms, chopped into large chunks
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
• 1 ½ c.  green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ¼ c. fresh Italian parsley
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest

Use a large soup pot to saute the onion and mushrooms in the olive oil until the onion is soft and slightly browned.  Add the Herbs de Provence and the green beans and allow them to cook for 1-2 minutes.  Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Add the uncooked noodles and allow them to boil gently for 7-8 minutes (or the time according to the package directions for the noodles that you have selected).  While waiting for the noodles to cook in the soup, make the gremolata by finely chopping together the parsley, garlic and lemon zest.

Once the soup is ready, serve hot and top each serving with 1-2 tsp. of the gremolata.  The original recipe called for a scoop of mascarpone cheese to be stirred in just before serving but I wanted to keep the recipe vegan and low-cal.  You could top the soup with a bit of shaved parmesan cheese but then you’re not vegan anymore (but still vegetarian).  It’s up to you how if you’d like the cheese but I thought it was quite tasty without it.  Just a bit of kosher salt sprinkled on top and I was happy!

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Care to learn more about being a vegetarian?  Click here to read my mini-series: When Veggies Come to Dinner