EASY WHITE BEAN AND KALE SOUP
A cold weather snap is a good time to make a nourishing, warm soup. If you have not tried to make homemade soup before, you will see how easy and versatile it can be.
The recipe is by Marcie at “Flavor The Moments” blog, modified to remove the oil. If you want to use a fresh sprig of thyme as described in the recipe, read what that means here: What Is a "Sprig" of Thyme? You can adjust the recipe to suit your tastes by changing the spices, beans, and/or greens but I enjoy it as written.
Watch this 2 minute video by Dr. Michael Greger about the nutrition of canned vs homemade beans: Canned Beans or Cooked Beans?
EASY WHITE BEAN AND KALE SOUP
Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth (Mine was not reduced sodium)
Sprig of fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 bay leaf
2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch kale, torn
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt, to taste (Since my broth was not reduced sodium I did not add extra salt)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I added 1 tsp)
Instructions
I chopped the onion, carrot, and celery together in a food processor rather than chopping each individually.
To a large soup pot or Dutch oven add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Dry saute for 5-7 minutes or until softened, adding a splash of water when starts to stick.
Add the diced tomatoes, broth, thyme, bay leaf and beans and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (I simmered covered for 45 minutes.) If used fresh thyme remove the stem. Stir in the kale during the last 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
