Like all our recipes, this soup is very flexible, so feel free to add pasta, rice, other vegetables, or different fresh herbs. Enjoy – this one is too easy no to!

Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 lb. leeks, cleaned and sliced, white & light green parts only
2 c. canned chickpeas
3 c. water
3 T. chopped fresh parsley
½ t. turmeric
Salt and black pepper

To prepare:
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil, then add the leeks. Caramelize but don’t brown the leeks for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chopped parsley. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat, and simmer for about 10 minutes, just until leeks are tender. Add the fresh parsley, stir to combine, adjust seasonings if needed, and serve.

Makes 6 quarts

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh shelled cannellini beans OR 1 pound dried beans, soaked overnight & drained OR 3- 17oz. cans beans, rinsed & drained
1 whole garlic bulb, cut in half horizontally
3 bay leaves
1 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 sticks of celery, chopped
16 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
8 leeks, white part only, OR 3 med. onions, peeled & chopped
4 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and crushed OR 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
4 T. chopped fresh garlic (1 average bulb)
8 sprigs of fresh herb, leaves removed; rosemary, sage OR thyme
3 bunches fresh greens (Swiss chard, escarole, or collards), chopped
2 T. balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Cover beans with water. Add bay leaves and halved garlic bulb. Bring to boil and simmer till slightly soft. Cover and let sit 1 hour. Strain through colander, reserving 1/2 of the broth. Remove garlic and bay leaves. If using canned beans simply drain and rinse.

Blend half of the beans into a puree w/broth or water. Reserve the rest of the beans to add to soup near the end of cooking time.

In large stockpot sauté celery, carrots and onions in olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes, chopped garlic, and herbs. After 5 minutes, add chopped greens, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook 10 more minutes. Add bean purée and enough broth or water to make a thick soup. Cook slowly for about an hour. Add water or broth as needed to thin. Ten minutes before serving, stir in whole beans to heat through.

Ladle into bowls and top with rustic herb croutons. Drizzle with the finest extra virgin olive oil you can find.

Watch how this soup is made.

Black Bean and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

¼ c. olive oil
1½ c. chopped onions (reserve ½ cup for garnish)
½ c. chopped celery
1/3 c. chopped carrots
2-3 medium jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced
3 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
8 c. water or stock, or half of each (reducing liquid will yield a thicker soup)
1 15-oz. can chopped fire roasted tomatoes
1 T. ground cumin
2-3 T. ground chipotle chile powder (more or less, to taste)
1 c. chopped cilantro, plus a little extra for garnish
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper

Heat a soup pot and add the oil. When the oil’s hot, but not smoking, add 1 cup of the chopped onions, the celery, carrots, and jalapeños. Add a pinch of kosher salt to help exude water and flavor and sauté the vegetables over medium heat, being careful not to let them brown.

When the vegetables are soft, about ten minutes, add the beans, the water or stock, and the tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat, and let it simmer for about one hour. When everything is very tender, and the soup has begun to thicken, stir in the cumin and chipotle powder.

Remove the soup pot from the heat, and using an emersion blender, roughly blend it until it’s creamy but you still see some whole beans. If you’re using a blender, blend just a little over half of the soup then add it back to the remaining soup.

Stir in the cilantro and heat again, stirring often to keep the thickened beans from sinking and sticking to the bottom of the pan. Serve the soup hot, topping each serving with some of the reserved chopped onion, a sprinkle of cilantro, and a good squeeze of fresh lime. You can also top this with a dollop of Tofu Sour Cream, but it’s also wonderful topped with broken corn tortilla chips.

If you use less liquid and don’t blend this soup, you can serve it as a stew over rice or day old cornbread.

The creaminess of this soup comes from the potato. Adding potato to soup prior to puréeing allows you to forgo adding soy or dairy and keeping it low in fat and calories. Potatoes also add additional body and starch as well as nutrition. For this recipe, you can even substitute sweet potato, which would add even more of a nutritional and fiber boost. Cauliflower is a healthy, wonderfully versatile vegetable, and children generally like it since it has a more subtle flavor than other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli.

Ingredients:
1 good-sized head of cauliflower, core removed, broken into florets
1 onion, roughly chopped
2-3 small potatoes, cut into quarters
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. neutral vegetable oil (safflower or canola work well)
6 c. vegetable stock or water
Fresh grated nutmeg
¼ c. soy milk (optional)
Salt and Pepper

To prepare:
Wash and prepare all the vegetables. Heat your soup pot on medium heat for a minute before adding the oil, then put in all the vegetables, except for the garlic, and sauté, stirring often until they soften and begin to turn a nice golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more, but don’t allow the garlic to brown. Add the stock or water and bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are quite tender. Remove the soup pot from the heat.

Let the soup cool a bit, then begin processing in a blender or with an immersion hand blender until it’s very smooth, but taking care not to over-blend as this brings out more starch from the potatoes. I always have a little additional stock on hand for thinning, if necessary.

Stir in the soy milk, if you’re using it, then taste and season the soup. Serve it hot, topped with a light sprinkle of nutmeg and a generous grating of fresh black pepper.