Katie Couric Loves This "Delicious" Zucchini-White Bean Soup That's Perfect for Spring

Warmer weather brings lots of changes into our lives—pesky pollen, shorter sleeves and daylight saving time among them. But the best change of all might be all the fresh produce arriving in stores and at the farmers' market. We're already itching to get our hands on verdant asparagus, tender spinach and juicy strawberries, not to mention the squash, tomatoes and cucumbers arriving in the summer.

Spring is also a time to shake up your menu—sprinkling in fresh, green recipes alongside your favorite creamy, cozy ones. For those spring days when it's cool in the evening, but warm in the day, a veggie-packed soup can be the perfect meal. We love to add a veggie minestra or a broccoli-cheese soup to the weekly lineup, and Katie Couric just added a new recipe to our list of must-try spring soups with a super-simple zucchini soup.

Couric hopped onto Instagram with her pal and recipe blogger, Kelly Rizzo, to share the recipe, which is easy to follow and packed with veg. The recipe is a re-creation of a cozy soup that Rizzo's nonna made all the time when she was growing up. It's easy to make in only a few steps, and it's full of tender zucchini chunks, zesty garlic and protein-powered cannellini beans.

The zuke soup has just eight ingredients: zucchini, onion, garlic, cannellini beans, chicken or vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. You'll also need a couple of pantry staples: olive oil, salt and pepper.

To start out, Rizzo and Couric get to work chopping four large zucchini and half of an onion, then mincing garlic and chopping fresh basil. With all the veggies prepped, it's time to get a Dutch oven on the stove and ready to go. In a pot, combine the zucchini and onions with some olive oil over medium-high heat, sautéing them until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the broth and lower the heat to medium. Then add beans—including the liquid in the can—plus seasonings and basil. Let the soup simmer over lower heat for about 20 minutes. To thicken the soup, crush your ingredients against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon until the consistency is creamier. Then add 1/4 cup Parmesan, stir and let the soup cook for a few more minutes, continuing to crush the veggies and beans against the pot.

Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle a little fresh basil on top, and you're ready to eat. The result will be light but creamy, all without even a touch of cream. If you opt for vegetable broth and a vegan twist on Parmesan, you could easily make this soup without animal products altogether. And best of all, Couric gave her bowl a rave review: "It's delicious, it really is," she says in the video after trying her first bite. "I would definitely make this at home."

If you want to add some soup accompaniments to the dinner table, you could serve this soup with a piece of crusty whole-wheat bread, or maybe opt for a café-style soup-and-salad combo. Salads like our Cucumber & Avocado Salad or Spring Salad with Pickled Shallot & Avocado come together pretty quickly and add a cool, refreshing counterpoint to a bowl of creamy veggie soup.

No matter what you pair with this soup, you'll be getting a delicious dose of the veggie our dietitians call a "nutrient powerhouse," all zhuzhed up with savory cheese and herbaceous seasonings. Now all you need is a warm spring evening to tie it all together.