Healthy recipe sharing

Guest Post: Lisa
Lisa shares an easy and healthy soup recipe. I had told Lisa that my garden vegetable soup was good and filling. But it has been getting a little old. So she shared another recipe with me. And now I am sharing it with you. I plan on making it this weekend. (I have no kitchen at the moment since we are in a hotel room in San Diego.)
Note from Lisa: This recipe is really filling, but is probably not too terribly high in calories. The tomatoes are the most calorically dense things in the soup. (Also, I strongly recommend adding some sour cream or yogurt as a garnish — it gives the soup a really substantial feel).
ZESTY TOMATO-THYME SOUP

The Description :
This is a chunky soup with a light, fresh taste.

The Recipe:
1. Coarsely chop one medium onion and two cloves of garlic in a food processor. Remove the mixture; set aside. Chop two stalks of celery and 14 cup (packed) of fresh parsley. Remove and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, warm one tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry until the mixture begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 16-oz. cans of crushed tomatoes and their juice, 1 12 cups of chicken broth, two tablespoons of tomato paste, two tablespoons of grated orange zest, one teaspoon of dried thyme, 12 teaspoon of black pepper and the celery and parsley.
3. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for at least 10 minutes.
4. Serve hot, at room temperature or slightly chilled, but not cold. Offer with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Microwave Version:
To save time, you could make this in the microwave. Here’s how: Combine the oil, chopped onion, garlic, celery, and parsley in a 3-Qt. microwave-safe casserole. Cover loosley and cook at 100% for 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, the chicken broth, tomato paste, orange zest, thyme and pepper. Cover and cook at 100% for 6 minutes, then at 50% for another 7 minutes.
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Thanks so much Lisa for sharing this with us. This is Lisa’s third guest post. If anyone is interested in writing a guest post for Go Fit Girl! let me know via comments or send me an e-mail to: ann@gofitgirl.com.