is it spring yet?

The weather is playing tricks on me. One moment the sun is shining brightly fooling me into spring and the next it's dark and rainy. I just don't get it! The cherry blossoms and daffodils are out despite a crazy rare snow storm last Friday. Spring may very well be around the corner but when it's chilly it's nice to cozy up to a bowl of hot soup. Tonight was one of those nights. I was easily tempted by 2 white bean and kale soups by fellow bloggers, Rorie's Ribollita and Crystal's White Bean & Kale Ragout. How lucky I was to have a can of white beans in the cupboard and a bunch of veggies in the crisper. Here's my version based on both of these lovely sounding recipes!

white bean & kale soup
2 T olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1/2 head of garlic, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1/2 tin of diced tomatoes
4 leaves of kale, chopped
1 tin of white beans, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes
vegetable broth

4 slices of rye bread
1 T butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and potatoes and heat until onions look wilty. Add tomatoes and enough broth to generously cover vegetables. Add salt, pepper and red chili flakes, cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes or so.

2. Add chopped kale and white beans and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

3. In a fry pan, melt butter over medium heat and add crushed garlic and bread. When toasty and golden on one side, flip bread over and toast until crisp.

4. To serve, add 1 garlic toast in bowl and pour soup over top.

vote!

If you are Canadian, you should be voting today. This is a very important election and I'm afraid we're going to join our southern neighbours in electing a crazy conservative leader. My fingers are crossed. I voted NDP. How about you?

Have you noticed my audioscrobbler link to the right? Now you no longer have to imagine what the heck I'm listening to on my itunes! I know you were curious!

Last night I made an easy, super cozy and delicious soup with things I found in my fridge and cupboard. The previous day I had soaked some dry white beans overnight and then boiled them for close to an hour with a bundle of rosemary. Using dried beans makes for a firmer bean which is way better than canned. If you are using canned beans, wait until the last 15 minutes of cooking before adding. Trust me. Yum!

white bean soup

3 rashes of bacon, chopped
2 c white beans
1 onion, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 squirts of ketchup (serious!)
1 carrot, chopped
1 potato, cubed
2 c beef broth
basil, oregano, worchestershire sauce, dried chilis, salt & pepper
parmesan cheese

In a large pot, fry up chopped bacon until crispy. Add onion and garlic and stir around until soft. Add the tomatoes and squirt in 2 generous blobs of ketchup (it adds something tangy with a bit of sweetness - tho I'm sure a squirt of lemon juice and a T of brown sugar would work just as well). Add in the herbs, a splash of worchestershire sauce, chilis and mix everything about. Add the beans, carrots and potatoes. Stir in the beef broth and cover over medium heat for 30 minutes or so. Taste and add salt & pepper and throw in a couple small chunks of parmesan cheese. Recover and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Serve in bowls & delicious with crusty bread.