Crock Pot Minestrone

I know it's been a while since I posted a recipe, but finally, here is one we tried last night and enjoyed for a few reasons:

1) it's easy and fast to prepare

2) almost all of the ingredients are the kind of products that you usually have in your kitchen on any given day

3) it actually tasted pretty good

Zesty Minestrone
1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (19 oz.) red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
2 cans (14 oz. each) vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1-1/2 cups small shell pasta, uncooked
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese


Heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and carrots; cook 2 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Spoon into slow cooker. Add tomatoes, beans, broth, water and Italian seasoning; stir. Cover with lid.
Cook on Low for 6 hours (or on High for 3 hours).
Stir in pasta; cook 10 to 15 min. or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

Notes: We didn't have any zesty italian dressing, so we just used a flavorful red pepper vinagrette of some sort. Worked fine. We also substituted mini penne pasta for the shell shaped kind, but I think it would've tasted better with the shells. Just my opinion, though.