Sunday soup: Bean and Kale soup

Wow, it's been a busy weekend!  It was the first weekend we've spent in Madison in three weeks, so I had a lot to catch up on around the house.  As you may know from previous posts, Joe has a Finance midterm on Monday, and this happens to be the most notoriously challenging class he will take in his MBA program (we'll see!).  He's been studying away all weekend, and I'm doing my best to take care of things around the house and make him some good, hearty brain food.

Today's soup was a basic Bean soup, with the addition of some yummy and nutritious kale.

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture before we ate and cleaned up.  Let's just say, it looked pretty delicious!

Basic Bean Soup:

If using dried beans, begin by rinsing and picking through them, then place them in a lidded pot with water (enough so that there is 2-3 in. of water above the beans).  Bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and cover. Let them soak for a couple of hours.  Drain and rinse them (supposedly this will reduce the infamous toots that come with beans).

- 3 c. dried beans (I used about a cup of cannellini beans and 2 c. black eyed peas, but it really doesn't matter what kind you use), prepared as mentioned above.

- 12 c. veggie or chicken broth (I did 7 c. of stock and 5 c. water to reduce sodium and cost)

- 2 medium onions, chopped

- 2 medium to large carrots, peeled and chopped (I'm using, and eating, carrots!)

- 2 celery stalks

- 4 bay leaves

- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, or a generous pinch of dried (I used dried)

- 4 strips bacon, chopped (I used low sodium, which was fine)

- a handful of kale, chopped

In a large, heavy pot over medium heat, combine the beans, stock/broth/water, onions, carrots, celery, bacon, bay leaves, and thyme.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are quite soft (at least an hour, mine took 2 and I reduced the heat further to buy myself some more time since we weren't ready to eat).  You can add more liquid here if it seems necessary.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Remember to taste it, so you don't over-salt.  You could probably puree some of the soup at this point, or mash the beans with a potato masher.  My beans were falling apart, so it wasn't necessary to do any mashing or pureeing. Add the kale about 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with bread, garnish with parsley.  

I baked bread while the soup simmered. We toasted the bread before serving with the soup, it was perfect.

Have a good week, friends!