Slimming Garden Vegetable Soup

Dear Lynne: We are up to our ears dieting and craving vegetables, and we'd love your idea for a low-carb dish. -- Getting Skinny in Jackson Hole

Dear Lean Ones: This soup holds for five days in the refrigerator and barely blips on the carb meter. Do all cutting in the food processor.

Lynne's Easy Garden-In-A-Pot Soup

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. of olive oil
2 each of medium onions and carrots, thinly sliced
top third of 2 stalks of celery with their leaves, thinly sliced
8 cloves of garlic, minced
generous pinch of hot red pepper flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. each of dry basil and sweet paprika
2 Tbsp. of tomato paste
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
handful of washed, fresh spinach leaves, chopped
1 big portobello mushroom, cap and stem washed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 of a large head of green cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup of dry white wine
6 to 8 cups of broth (low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth)
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) of shredded Asiago or sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation:

In a heavy 6-quart pot, combine the olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted and aromatic. Stir often to prevent burning.

Uncover, raise heat to medium-high, stir in the tomato paste, basil and paprika. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add remaining vegetables, wine and broth. Bring to a simmer, partially cover the pot, and cook 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and soup is full-flavored.

Serve in deep bowls, sprinkling each portion with some of the cheese.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is host of the national radio show "The Splendid Table."