Lasagna Soup

As I am sure you can tell, and from me just coming out and saying it, I love lasagna.  You have seen my posts about Spaghetti Squash Lasagna and Simple Lasagna so it shouldn't surprise you that I have now come up with another lasagna recipe.  This time, combining the yummy ingredients of lasagna into a soup form.  This is not the cleanest recipe, especially if you stay away from dairy, but if you omit adding the cheese mixture, you have yourself a nice, filling (and vegan) tomato pasta soup.  What is nice about this recipe is it is done in the Crockpot and is a super easy meal and an even easier clean up.  Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

Soup:
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 medium zucchini, sliced, then halved
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of brown rice fusilli pasta


Cheese Mix:
1 8oz tub of part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tsp parsley
1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Combine onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste in a Crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  When soup has 2 hours left to cook, stir in pasta and allow to cook for remaining time.

While soup is cooking, combine ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, parsley and fresh basil in a medium bowl.  Mix and refrigerate until ready to use.

When soup is done, serve topped with dollop of cheese mixture.

Fiesta Chili

Chili is usually one of my go to dinners when I don't want to spend hours cooking.  I love chili but was getting tired of the tomato based chili and wanted to try something new.  This chili has no tomato in it and almost has a tortilla soup taste to it.  It is so easy and delicious, I almost feel guilty not spending hours in the kitchen preparing it!  Enjoy!

Fiesta Chili

Ingredients

2 15oz cans of Great Northern beans
2 15oz cans of black beans
2/3 cup corn kernels
1 15oz jar of salsa verde (I used Herdez brand)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tsp cumin
Salt to taste
Optional toppings: avocado, cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, flour tortilla

Combine all ingredients in crockpot, cook on high for 8 hours.  Serve with optional toppings.