Olive Garden Minestrone Soup

Olive Garden's minestrone soup is always my favorite thing to order!  So I found this recipe {here} and made a few adaptations.  Pretty darn close to Olive Garden's.  Delish and oh so healthy... so you don't feel as bad eating so much of it!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced white onions (about 1 small onion)
1/4 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 cup frozen cut italian green beans
1/4 cup minced celery (about 1/2 stalk)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
4 cups Swanson vegetable broth

1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can small white beans or great northern beans, drained
1 /2 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup carrots, julienned or shredded
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups hot water
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/3 cup small shell pasta

Directions

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese!

Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings.