Flashback Post: Winter Kale & White Bean Soup Recipe

 

 

 

The weather may have been colder back in January 2009 when I first posted this, but this soup recipe is good anytime! Hope you enjoy. —Leigh

Winter Kale & White Bean Soup Recipe (from January 2009)

Amazingly, despite the really cold weather, the bed of kale is still green and doing well out in the garden. I was doing a cold-weather experiment in this uncovered bed. Those are Tyfon greens, or the remains of Tyfon greens, to the left. They pretty much vanish when the temps hit the mid-teens. The kale, as you can see, is quite perky despite multiple nights of mid-teens and no cover at all.

So I picked a batch and found a wonderful Kale & White bean soup recipe over at allrecipes.com by Jean Carper. You can click the the title below to go to the site.

Bean Soup With Kale

SUBMITTED BY: USA WEEKEND columnist Jean Carper
* 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
* 8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
* 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
* 4 cups chopped raw kale
* 4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
* 2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini or navy, undrained
* 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
* 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 1 cup chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add 3 cups of broth, 2 cups of beans, and all of the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. In a blender or food processor, mix the remaining beans and broth until smooth. Stir into soup to thicken. Simmer 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley.

This is what became of the kale:

And WOW it is a delicious soup. I did a couple of things differently – probably used a bit more kale than it called for, added 1 tsp. of bacon drippings (I am a real Southerner…) and instead of plum tomatoes – which aren’t in season when kale it — I used a small can of diced tomatoes. It was WONDERFUL! The parsley really adds a great green flavor. Can’t wait to make more.

Hope you all are staying warm in this cold January! Here’s to warm soups and warm hearts. —January 2009

 

—A Larrapin Garden. Where posts may be boom or bust depending on the season, but if you subscribe by you’ll get one weekly email—usually on Wednesdays—to let you know what’s new. You are also invited to join me over at the brand new Facebook page or on Twitter.