Difference of Opinion: Italian Soup

I made a yummy Italian soup last night.





I got the recipe from Macheesmo.com, a fun food blog. (I did make a few changes to the recipe.  I used corn and black beans instead of celery and Cannellini beans, respectively, because that’s what I had.) The broth is made with vegetable broth, white wine, and tomato sauce, so it has a really good flavor to it.  And I always like having another way to consume pasta. This is one of my favorite dishes I have made so far as a newlywed/newlycook. (Others include lasagna, chicken cordon blue, homemade pizza, and enchiladas.)

However, Michael does not have the same affection for the dish that I do.

I was afraid this might be so.  The dish includes no meat, or as he likes to say nothing that “previously had a face.”  (I have once before been chided for making breakfast burritos without the sausage.)

I’m trying to make us more cholesterol friendly meals, and this meal certainly is, but next time I will compromise and add a meat: shrimp. I actually think shrimp would go really well with the other flavors of this soup.

Another change I will make next time is nix the spinach. Don’t get me wrong—I really do like spinach.  It’s one of my favorite vegetables.  However, I am also a texture person, and the spinach was just too slimy—it was choking me.  So if you are a texture person, too, I suggest leaving the spinach out altogether or just serving the soup with spinach as a garnish that people can choose to put on their soup or not.  I’m going to do this because we are also big leftover people, and I am afraid to nuke the spinach, of what kind of results this may bring.  Michael agrees with me whole heartedly here.