I’ve been on a soup kick lately, and thanks to Winter Storm Jonas that soup making has been kicked into high gear. This recipe, in particular, is one Kevin and I both love, and I’ve made it three times in the past couple of weeks.
It’s a (verrrrry slightly modified) recipe from the Conscious Cleanse book, but I didn’t make it when I did the cleanse back in 2013 (perhaps since that was over the summer).
When I started off 2016 with another round of the Conscious Cleanse, though, the soup section became my go-to when it came to cleanse recipes, and I found several that were great. This one, though? The best, hands down — cleanse or no cleanse.
I’d never had parsnips in soup, but they work beautifully and taste very similar to white potatoes. Genius! I also load it up with kale, adding half to three-quarters of a 10-ounce bag to each batch of soup. You can, of course, also add other veggies you might have on hand, and use chick peas if you don’t have white beans (or cannellini beans) on hand (I love that about soup).
Hearty Vegetable White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 6 parsnips, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (14.5-ounce) cans white or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 quarts vegetable stock or vegetable broth
- 2 cups brussels sprouts (fresh or frozen work equally well), cut in half
- 5-8 ounces kale, chopped
- 1 large sprig rosemary
Directions
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the coconut oil.
- Add the onion and celery, stir, and cook for two minutes.
- Add carrots and parsnips, stir, and cook for five minutes. Add garlic, white beans, and bay leaf, and stir for one minute.
- Add vegetable stock/broth until it covers all ingredients by about one inch.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add brussels sprouts and kale, along with more stock/broth (if needed).
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat.
- Add the rosemary, cover the pot, and let soup sit for 15 minutes.
- Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste.
- Remove rosemary and bay leaf, and serve!
