If you're half frozen, make Kale and White Bean Soup, quick!
During our recent cold snap, I spent a day out in the cold, and after coming home, I thought I'd never be warm again. So of course I made soup. I opened the fridge, saw a bag of kale (kale comes pre-chopped, in bags here) and went from there. Altogether, it took about a half hour to get on the table, and was a filling meal—just what I needed, too.
Now that the U.S. is having a cold snap, I figured I'd download my photos and post a recipe.
But don't do like I did, staying out in the freezing temperatures all day. My fingers were so cold I'm surprised they didn't fall off. Or get chopped off while I chopped veggies with numb fingertips!
Keep reading for directions.
Kale and White Bean Soup
1/4 cup olive oil
2 small onions or 1 large onion
6 cloves garlic, minced (I used smoked garlic)
1 lb kale, chopped
1 quart rich vegetable stock*
6 sundried tomatoes, sliced into strips
1 teaspoon rosemary
snipped basil, about 8 leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf
1 can white beans (haricots vert blanc), rinsed
In a large saute pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir. Two minutes later, add the kale and the stock. Increase the heat and add the tomatoes and herbs. When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and add the beans.
Let simmer over medium to low heat until the kale is done, about 20 minutes.
Note: If your kale isn't pre-chopped, it's easy to prepare it. Rinse the leaves and lay them on top of each other. Cut off the large center ribs, just toward the end—the tough parts. Roll the leaves up as best you can, and slice at 1-inch intervals. Then slice the slices into 1-inch pieces.