Hearty Bean and Kale Soup

Photo: flickr user Ned Raggett

Ingredients

1/2 pound dried Great Northern beans

Water as needed

Olive oil as needed

1 onion chopped

2 smalls carrots chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

4 cups shredded kale - (1 small bunch)

1 boiling potato diced

2 cups chopped Swiss chard bunch - (1 small bunch

1 lrg tomato diced

2 garlic cloves minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 cup Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Place beans in large saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Let stand at room temperature overnight.

Drain beans well and return to saucepan. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, 1 hour 30 minutes, reserving liquid. Transfer half beans to food processor or blender and puree. Reserve remaining whole beans.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and saute 5 minutes. Stir in kale, potato, pureed beans and enough reserved bean cooking liquid and water to make 6 cups. Heat over medium heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes.

Add chard, tomato, garlic, rosemary, parsley, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until chard is tender and flavors are well blended, at least 1 hour, adding additional bean liquid if soup is too thick. (Soup should be quite thick.)

Stir in reserved whole beans and simmer until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. (Can be cooled and refrigerated overnight.) Ladle into heated soup bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Pass olive oil to top soup with, if desired.

This recipe yields 8 to 10 servings.

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Comments

Permalink Chris Rogers
January 19, 2011

Thanks for this awesome recipe! I used it in a recent article on the nutritional benefits of kale for The Ingredient Critic. Learn more about kale, check out http://ingredientcritic.com/king-kale!