Easy 30-Minute Minestrone Soup (Better-Than-Olive-Garden-Copycat)

INGREDIENTS

to 4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups

sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 1 large onion)

1 1/2 cups

zucchini, diced small (about 1 small/medium zucchini)

1 1/2 cups

carrots, peeled and sliced thin (about 1 1/2 large carrots)

(about 2 stalks)

garlic cloves, minced

64 oz

low-sodium vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups

small macaroni shells or small shell pasta

2 14.5 ounce cans

petite diced tomatoes (I use no-salt added)

1 15 ounce can

red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I use no-salt added)

1 15 ounce can

great northern white beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I use no-salt added)

1 15 ounce can

cut green beans, drained and rinsed (I use no-salt added)

bay leaves

2 tsp

dried basil

1 tsp

dried thyme

1 tsp

dried oregano

1 tsp

dried rosemary

1 tsp

pepper, or to taste

2 1/2

to 3 cups fresh spinach, tightly packed

1/4

cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp

lemon juice, optional

salt,

freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional and for garnishing