Make a Meal with Minestrone

There is nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of soup on a cold, winter day! Soup can make a nutritious entree, but sometimes one bowl just doesn't feel like a full meal. Today, we will be discussing a few tips on how to make soup into a balanced meal. 

Make it a Meal:

When thinking about a balanced meal, MyPlate often comes to mind. If you haven't head about MyPlate before, here is the run-down. MyPlate is the current nutrition guide to healthy eating and looks like the picture shown below. 

MyPlate recommends filling 1/4 of the plate with fruit, 1/4 of the plate with vegetables, 1/4 of the plate with grains, and 1/4 of the plate with protein. The meal can be completed with a serving of dairy on the side. 

MyPlate is extremely easy to visualize when it comes to meals like grilled chicken, but can sometimes be a little more difficult to use when a meal like soup is on the menu. Here are my top tips for making it a MyPlate meal:

1. Does it contain all 5 groups? Go through the soup ingredients and see what might be missing from the 5 groups, fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. 
2. Add a side dish or two. If you notice that your soup meal is missing a grain, fruit, or dairy component, go ahead and add those as side dishes. 
3. Top it off. Rather than adding sides, make your soup a balanced meal that contains all 5 food groups by adding a sprinkle of cheese or whole grain croutons. 
4. Pump up the protein. If the soup is vegetarian, try adding beans or lentils for a punch of protein. 
5. Sneak in more veggies. Soups are a great way to encourage consumption of a wide variety of vegetables. Try to get 2 or 3 vegetables into your soup recipe for added nutrition. 

Minestrone Soup:

This week's featured soup is Minestrone. This is a classic Italian soup that is hearty and fully of veggies. The soup contains two out of the five food groups but is missing a dairy, grain, and fruit component.

Vegetables- carrots, celery, bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes

Protein- garbanzo beans

This soup will be served alongside Ciabatta Bread, so all we need to add is a serving of fruit and dairy to make this a MyPlate meal. A fruit salad and a few cheese slices would round out this meal and keep you feeling satisfied. 

Here is an easy fruit salad that is perfect for a busy weeknight:

The above is just one example of how to transform your Minestrone soup into a balanced and filling meal that contains all 5 food groups. Below is a video with some fun information about the soup you will be trying. It also includes another idea for turning your soup into a meal. Enjoy!