Let’s Get Started!

Ingredients Needed

• 1 shallot
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/8-ounce fresh basil
• 12 oz whole wheat pasta (rotini or other)
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 5 ounces of baby spinach
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano

Directions

1. Boil water and cook pasta. Meanwhile, peel shallot and mince. Mince garlic. Rinse basil and pick leaves, discarding stems. Rinse spinach.
2. In a large pot, heat shallot, garlic and spices over medium heat, adding enough water to keep them from sticking, about three minutes.
3. Add crushed tomatoes to pot with aromatics over medium heat and cook about three minutes.
4. Add vegetable broth to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add drained pasta to the pot with soup and stir to combine. Add spinach and simmer until spinach is bright green, about 1-2 minutes. It may still be a bit soupy.
6. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil, add salt and pepper to taste.

Benefits

By taking the extra 15 minutes to make this instead of using pre-made tomato sauce you are eliminating sugar and oil. It is the regular and daily use of these 2 substances over your lifetime that contribute to diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. The more days per week that you can replace a meal of processed food with something like this, the longer it will be before you (or the people you are feeding) will develop those diseases. Spinach and other greens are extremely protective for the inside of your arteries and everyone, but especially those with high blood pressure and heart disease, should be eating them every day.

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