This white bean soup comes alive with garden greens

By Jeanie Rose | Beans

Jan 13

This white bean soup comes alive with garden greensWhen you cook any bean, I recommend cooking enough for two or three meals. Have a plan for using them so the family doesn’t think they are eating the same meal every evening.

Great Northern white beans are a creamy, almost sweet bean that blends with so many flavors. You can be creative and work with what you have in your garden or in your veggie drawer. Here is one very quick and simple soup idea. To feed four people, you will need four cups of cooked white beans (cooked in bone broth or a rich vegetable broth, of course). If you have a pot of broth on (and we nearly always do) just dip out three cups of very hot broth and you are almost finished making this soup.

The recipe below calls for shredded garland chrysanthemum because that is the green I had on hand. It’s a Japanese green used in salads and stir fry dishes. It falls in the mid-range for flavor and bite. You could use any green of your choice just make certain you like the flavor of the green because it becomes important to the flavor of the soup.

If you are planning to make enough soup for more than one day, add the greens to the soup you plan to serve today. The color will be bright and inviting. By tomorrow, with time and reheating, the green gets dark and brownish. The soup still tastes good, but the presentation is lacking.

White Bean Soup Ingredients

This white bean soup comes alive with garden greens

  • 4 cups white beans cooked in broth
  • 3 cups broth
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded garland chrysanthemum (or other green)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Smoked paprika and parsley or chrysanthemum for garnish

White Bean Soup Steps

  1. Heat the broth in a large soup pot.
  2. Add the beans and bring to the simmering point.
  3. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
  4. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the greens. You do not want them to cook, just wilt.
  5. Taste for salt and pepper. Depending on how much seasoning you had in the beans when you cooked them and how much seasoning you had in the broth, you may not need much. Be cautious here. The flavor of this soup is delicate and can be easily overwhelmed with salt and pepper.
  6. Serve up the soup in heated bowls and garnish with a light sprinkling of smoked paprika. The paprika brings a lovely hue to the soup and a hint of earthiness to the flavor. Top with a sprig of chrysanthemum or parsley.
  7. For a heartier soup you could add pieces of cooked chicken or ham or top each serving with a generous serving of grated mozzarella cheese.

Enjoy your soup with a piece of buttered sourdough toast.

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Sarah Park
11 years ago

I love white beans. I don’t know why I am so fascinated with beans.

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