Alphabet Minestrone soup

One of my child care kiddos brought some yummy smelling minestrone soup for lunch yesterday. I instantly emailed his Mom for the recipe. I wanted to share it with you since 1 serving is only 4 points on weight watchers. I am not sure how many cups each serving is, but I'll update this when I actually make it. I also will be replacing some of the ingredients with lower point options so maybe the points will actually be less.

The recipe comes from the book, Hey Kids! You're Cookin' Now! by Dianne Pratt.

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves
1 small onion
1 large carrot, peeled
2 stalks celery
1 medium zucchini
1/2 head small cabbage
1 tbs. Olive Oil (I may try to find a substitute for this or use less)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tbs. basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 vegetable bouillon cubes ( I would use 2 as soup was slightly salty)
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
15 ounce can stewed tomatoes, with juice
1 cup canned red beans ( I would use the beans worth the lowest points)
1 cup dried alphabet pasta ( Definitely will be replacing this w/ whole wheat pasta)

Preparation:
1. Peel and finely dice garlic cloves. Separately chop onion, carrot, celery, and zucchini into small pieces. Use grater to shred cabbage.

2. Heat olive oil in large soup kettle over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute until soft. Add carrots and celery and cook another 2 minutes.

3. Stir in zucchini ad cabbage and cook 2 more minutes.

4. Add oregano, basil and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cook 1 minute.

5. Mix in vegetable bouillon cubes, broth, water and stewed tomatoes. Cover kettle and cook 35 minutes.

6. Turn the hear back up to medium. Add cooked red beans and pasta. Simmer 8-10 minutes or until pasta is tender, but not mushy.

servings: 6
Protein: 7gm
Carbs: 23 gm
sodium: 608 mg
calories: 152
fat: 3.5 gm