Rainbow Minestrone Soup

Time :6 40

Yield :10 servings

Recipe Background

All the colors of the flavor rainbow in one bowl! Rainbow Minestrone Soup is a vibrant and vivacious broth filled with bright garden vegetables and savory beans for extra heartiness. Herbaceous, garlic-y, and with plenty of tasty textures in every bite, Rainbow Minestrone Soup will have you scraping the bottom of the bowl. With a slow cooker, this vegetarian soup practically cooks itself so you can kick back without a care in the world. It's a pot of tasty gold that you won't soon forget.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound Swiss chard stems and leaves chopped separately
1 medium red onion finely chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) can kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
1 medium yellow summer squash halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium sweet red pepper finely chopped
1 medium carrot finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 cups spiral pasta
1/4 cup pesto
parmesan cheese to taste, shredded, for serving
crushed red pepper flakes to taste, for serving

Directions

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil.
Add the Swiss chard stems and the onions to the skillet and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
Transfer the chard mixture to a slow cooker.
Stir the vegetable broth, the tomatoes and their juices, the kidney beans, the garbanzo beans, the squash, the red peppers, the carrots, and the garlic into the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low until all the vegetables are tender, for 6-8 hours.
Stir in the pasta and the Swiss chard leaves.
Cover again and cook on low until the pasta is tender, for about 20-25 minutes.
Stir in the pesto.
Serve hot topped with the parmesan and the red pepper flakes.