Yeah, I imagine pasta counts as “ultra processed”. I’ve made the same dish without the pasta, for a gluten-sensitive friend. It’s really better with the pasta. My favorite part is how the pasta soaks up the broth and tastes rich and delicious. But barley might work instead, if you want a less-processed starch.
I like pasta as well. We started re-examining our diets a few years back after reading The China Study and other similar books. We reduced our protein, but substituted easy carbs like pasta, minute rice. And that wasn’t good for my wife’s weight or blood chemistry.
In the years since, my wife decided that for her, reducing carbs and increasing fiber was a significant factor. In short, we both crave a lasting feeling of satiety. Beans, veggies, and whole grains provide that for us in a way simple carbs didn’t. Even tho I might think that I “like” the taste/mouthfeel of pasta, I’m just as happy to use a whole grain - or just have another scoop of beans and veggies.
We are fortunate that we both have somewhat simple and compatible palates. I don’t perceive us as following “recipes” so much as tossing stuff together, but my wife has more specific ideas than I as to what goes with what. And yes, you should always look for the sodium on canned goods. I’m often surprised that they make it so hard to ascertain which tomatoes are “no salt added”.
BTW - her scope was clean as a whistle. Which we feel is somewhat of a testament to our current diet.
We use very little salt, but lots of other spices. And no, we don’t soak beans. We either go canned, or we found a type of pre-cooked black-eyed peas in the fresh produce section that takes only 20 minutes. And we rely heavily on split peas and lentils, which don’t require soaking.
Last time at the store I found frozen spinach and kale, so we toss those into most of our soups/stews. Collard greens - whatever else is available fresh.
Just amazes me that cooking like this is so easy and so (IMO) tasty (as well as cheap and good for you!) Yet I get the impression relatively few people eat that way. And the government and food industry sure don’t encourage it.
Yeah, we rely heavily on lentils, canned chickpeas, and other canned beans. When my husband plans in advance, we sometimes do small white beans or black beans, but those are less commonly in our rotation, because they aren’t ever an answer to, “what do you want to do for supper tonight?”
We’re not explicitly trying for a low-meat or less-processed diet, we just eat a lot of legume meals because they taste good and are easy. I think all of our bean dishes are relatively salty, though, because the ones that don’t rely on canned beans are based on an Indian cookbook that calls for a lot of salt, and we mostly follow the recipe.
I’m not a big fan of “add lots of spices”. There are specific dishes that have specific spice profiles that I like (and some of the Indian dishes have a LOT of spice), but I’m a picky eater, and a lot of food is “over seasoned” to my tastes. If I’m eating beans I want to enjoy the beans.
Hulled barley is a dandy substitution for pasta in any dish. Not the regular pearl barley, but hulled barley, with the bran still attached. Wonderfully nutty and chewy, I love the stuff!
~VOW
Today 199.6#! 
Granted, it was immediately after a hard bike ride, but I haven’t been south of 200# in at least a decade. And that is with absolutely ZERO effort to limit my volume of food intake. Last night at a reception after a concert I was lowering the boom on cheese and crackers, chips and dip, and cookies - at a time that I would normally be in bed.
Gonna grill up some veggies for lunch and have them over rice. Yum! 
Further update - had bloodwork and an annual exam this week. In June 2017, my total cholesterol was 254. This week, 202. All other numbers and blood pressure rock solid (tho my pressure has always been good.)
Have been missing the diet a lot recently due to a vacation, and various family occasions (weddings, cookouts, vacation, etc). Not dispositive of anything, but good to see the numbers moving in a positive direction.
Already looking forward to lentil soup for dinner tonight!
Also, someone mentioned pasta upthread (maybe me?) We discovered Barilla makes a bean/lentil flour based pasta. Claims to have considerable fiber. We use it occasionally for variety.
Or get yourself an electric pressure cooker. I love my Instant Pot! It cuts cooking time by around 2/3, and no need to presoak legumes. It isn’t the optimal cooking tool for everything, but for beans and lentils, it’s a thing of beauty.
Care to update us on the above?
Congrats on your success.
mmm
Or a traditional pressure cooker. They run even hotter than the electric ones, and do a great job with beans. I don’t like babysitting it, or cleaning it, so I rarely use it. But my husband makes a nice pasta fagioli and black bean soup in a traditional pressure cooker.