What's for Dinner? (1/3/06)

Mmmm...veggies, veggies and more veggies. Slowly but surely, I am finding more and more ways to get my veggie-phobic family to willingly eat more veggies. Even enjoy veggies. I have to admit that if you want to compare my boys to what is generally touted as the average American diet, they are probably way ahead of the curve. Only I don't want to compare our diet to the average American because from what I've read, the average American diet is pretty atrocious.

I have found that it's all in the wrapping. If I throw a bunch of veggies into a curry-based sauce - a sauce that we all love - they'll eat almost anything. If I just toss a veggie with some olive oil and garlic, maybe not so much. My husband will eat veggies because he knows they are good for them, but he's pretty phobic too. I'm the only one in the family who embraces veggies and even I have my ups and downs.

Soups have turned out to be another great way to get them to eat a miriad of things they might not otherwise tolerate. Tonight's soup was no exception. Whilst purusing the bulletin boards over at Cooking Light, I found a thread dedicated to soups. Although the Very Creamy Vegetable Chowder almost shouted at me (love cheese), I settled on the Tortellini, White Bean and Spinach Soup because it seemed more conducive to a quick, weeknight meal.

The soup was very good. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was a good, basic soup. Good, basic soups are always made more appealing if they are easy to put together, which this one was. We all agreed that a little smoked sausage (something low-fat like Healthy Choice) or other flavorful meat would boost the flavor quite nicely, but then it wouldn't be a vegetarian soup, and I would like to eat vegetarian more often. So, if I were going to kick up the flavor and keep this vegetarian, I might try some white wine or perhaps some vinegar. All in all, this one is a keeper. It's easy, it's a meal-in-one, it's good and my kids licked their bowls clean.

Tortellini, White Bean, and Spinach Soup

Picture from Cooking Light