White Bean and Kale Soup

Vegetarian

White Bean and Kale Soup

submitted by By Cynthia Lair

Cynthia Lair has been part of the nutrition faculty at Bastyr University since 1994. Recipe reprinted from Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family: Whole Foods Recipes for Babies, Young Children and Their Parents (Moon Smile Press, 1998); and Feeding the Young Athlete: Sports Nutrition Made Easy for Players and Parents, with Scott Murdoch, PhD, RD (Moon Smile Press, 2002). Both are available from www.feedingfamily.com.

This soup was inspired by a recipe for minestrone in one of my favorite cookbooks, the Moosewood Collective's Sundays at Moosewood (Fireside, 1990). The kale adds energy-boosting vitamins and minerals, while the beans provide a simple protein base.

2 cups kale, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic
3 cups cooked cannelloni beans
2 1/2 cups stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pecorino cheese, freshly grated

Wash kale, remove stems from leaves. Roll up leaves and cut in thin ribbons. Set aside. In a soup pot, heat olive oil and briefly sauté garlic. Add about half the cooked beans and part of the stock. Purée remainder of beans and stock in blender, along with tomato paste and sage. Stir puréed beans into soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix kale into soup and simmer until kale has wilted (10 to 15 minutes). Add lemon juice and enough water to give soup the desired consistency. Season to taste. Serve topped with grated pecorino cheese.

Preparation: 30 minutes

Makes 3-4 servings

Note: 3 cups canned or previously cooked beans can be used instead. This will cut total preparation time to 30 minutes.