Honorary Dish of the Day: White Bean & Kale Soup
Honorary Dish of the Day: Our second highlight and honorary dish of the day today is this truly heart-warming and absolutely sumptuous White Bean & Kale Soup! This wonderful dish is a wholly vegan/vegetarian variation of my Chicken & Kale Stew recipe, with delicious small white beans serving as the crucial substitute for chicken. While beans can never quite measure up to chicken by any standard for sure 😆, I would say they do a pretty good job of elevating the flavor of the vegetable soup in addition to providing a much-needed nice, hearty texture. This novel dish is not only easy to prepare and abundantly flavorful, but also comes fully loaded with plenty of nutrients that will guarantee you end up with a balanced, healthy, and wholesome dish!
To prepare this delicious soup, I first followed my usual dry bean preparation method of pre-soaking 1 cup of the dry white beans overnight in about 3 - 4 cups of cold water. I then boiled the beans the following day with 3 fresh cups of water for about 1 hour until they were tender. Once done, I drained out all the boiling water and set the beans aside. Thereafter, I heated up about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot for about 2 minutes under medium heat before adding in a medley of diced red onions, tomatoes, and round carrot slices. I let this base mixture sauté while seasoning them with 1 teaspoon each of ground black pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, and turmeric. I then added 1 cup of water and covered to let the mixture simmer and blend together for about 5 minutes. Thereafter, I poured in the cooked white beans, stirred thoroughly to blend with the base mixture, and added 2 more cups of water. I seasoned this blend with some salt to taste, sprinkled some dry parsley and rosemary flakes, and let the soup continue to simmer. After about 10 minutes, I poured in 1 more cup of water before finally stirring in large chunks of very coarsely chopped curly kale (1 bunch). I covered the pot and let the kale cook for only about 3 more minutes before turning off the heat. Similar to the other kale recipe, the trick here is to cook the kale just slightly enough that it softens but still retains its crunch and bright green color. Once done, I served the soup hot as a main dinner dish paired with some rice. Delicious, healthy, and deeply flavorful...this delightful vegetarian soup will undoubtedly make a great addition to your home menu. Give it a try soon and let us know how it goes. Enjoy! 😋💝
