Recipe for Health: Pumpkin Bean Minestrone

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We all want to age well, and it turns out that going bigger on a certain plant-based compound may help with that goal. As reported in Frontiers in Nutrition, investigators from China sourced from the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANS) to determine that increased levels of beta-carotene was associated with longer telomeres, a marker of biological age, in a group of 2,353 overweight and obese U.S. populations. Telomeres are DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells replicate and age. It’s thought that telomere shortening or attrition is one of the hallmarks of biological aging. Perhaps beta-carotene found abundantly in orange colored vegetables like sweet potato and pumpkin as well dark leafy green such as kale can help lessen the oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in the body linked with telomere shortening. It’s worth noting that being overweight or obese exacerbates oxidative stress and inflammation. It remains to be seen if higher intakes of beta-carotene can have the same impact in healthier individuals, but this beta-carotene rich hearty soup seems like a good thing to serve for dinner to help us age a little less rapidly.

Pumpkin Bean Minestrone

• 1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or chicken
• 3 cups (about 1 pound) peeled cubed pumpkin or butternut squash
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 (14 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 (14 oz) can navy or cannellini beans
• 4 cups chopped kale
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and salt; heat five minutes. Add ground turkey or chicken; heat until browned throughout. Place pumpkin or butternut, celery and garlic in pan; heat three minutes. Add tomato paste, Italian seasoning, chili flakes and black pepper; heat 30 seconds.

Pour wine into pan, bring to a boil and heat one minute. Add tomatoes, broth and beans to pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Stir in kale and red wine vinegar; heat two minutes. Makes four servings.