When the thermometer drops below 20 degrees, it's time to break out the Dutch Oven and make soup for dinner. Since I'm on my January healthy kick, Ellie Krieger's Tuscan Vegetable Soup recipe was a great option fill up with hearty vegetables instead of empty calories.

Since I'm not a huge fan of onions I decided to caramelize them a bit before adding in the rest of the vegetables.

While the recipe calls for zucchini, it's prime season is during the summer months, so I used green squash with my carrots and celery instead.

While the vegetables, garlic, thyme and sage cooked, it smelled like the holidays all over again (think: stuffing).

I added the vegetable broth and canned diced tomatoes and then stirred in dried cannelini beans instead of the canned variety. Canned beans are definitely quicker but I had time before putting dinner on the table so I used the dried variety to cut down on my sodium intake. If you're going to go this route, the soup will need to simmer for at least 1-2 hours while the beans cook.

Right before I was ready to eat (and salivating from the amazing aroma) I added chopped fresh spinach. It only needs a few minutes to cook.

Once all the vegetables and beans are cooked, you might want to add a bit more broth depending on how thick you want your soup.

Top with Parmesan for a taste that feels like you ordered from a classic Italian restaurant.