Walking home from work yesterday was miserable--it was cold and windy, and with the forecast of a wintry mix of rain and snow, I decided a hearty winter soup was in order.
I didn't feel like stopping to pick up any ingredients (I really didn't want to have to walk a second more in the wind than absolutely necessary) so I raided my pantry to come up with this white bean soup. I have listed a few fun additions at the bottom that I would have made had I had the ingredients around.
Winter White Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cans (about 28 oz total) white beans
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
Directions:
- Over medium flame, heat oil in soup pot and saute onion until soft and translucent, 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and carrots and cook 4-5 minutes more.
- Add white beans, spices, and liquids; bring to a boil and simmer over low flame at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
- Remove half of soup from pot and blend with an immersion blender (or do what I do and just stick the immersion blender in and give it a few revs :)); return to pot with rest of soup.
- Add 4 cups of cleaned, chopped kale or spinach in step 3.
- Cut 8 brussel sprouts into quarters; drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper then roast in the oven until soft and crispy. Add to soup in step 3.
onion: .35
carrots: .45
garlic: .15
beans: 1.98
stock: 1.99
Grand total: $4.92; serves 6-8
I will admit, I got excited when I saw containers of fresh chickpeas at my produce market. Yes, I do realize that I’m a total food nerd. Anyways, I abandoned my plan for a butter lettuce salad and immediately starting thinking about what to do with the chickpeas. There was a pile of wax beans sitting next to the chickpeas, so I picked some up because I liked the color contrast.
I wanted a third vegetable to go in the mix, so I wandered around the store looking for inspiration. I thought about fava beans, I considered English peas. Then I spotted baby artichokes, and my mind was made up.
When it was time to eat, I melted some butter in a pan and added a minced shallot. After the shallot had cooked through, I added the vegetables and a generous dose of salt and pepper. I finished the dish with some fresh tarragon from my garden.
This was a great way to enjoy spring vegetables, and worth the extra effort. The fresh chickpeas had a very different taste from their dried counterpart. I especially liked the color and texture contrast between the different vegetables.
Serves 3-4
½ pound wax beans, trimmed
1 cup of shelled fresh chickpeas
12 baby artichokes, trimmed and quartered
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium shallot, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the wax beans, blanch for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Transfer the wax beans to an ice bath. Place the chickpeas in the boiling water, cook for about 10-12 minutes or until tender. Add the chickpeas to the ice bath. Put the artichokes into the boiling water, blanch for about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Place into ice bath. Remove all the vegetables from the ice bath and pat dry with paper towels.
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, sauté until the shallot is translucent and tender, about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, toss to coat with the shallot butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables have warmed through. Stir in the fresh tarragon at the end.
Label: beans
