White Bean and Tomatoes with Veggies Soup- can be vegetarian

I decided to take a little bit different spin on my usual vegetable soup.  I did use chicken stock but you can certainly keep this completely vegetarian with vegetable stock. Play around with it and use whatever ingredients you like and whatever vegetables and stock suit your tastes best. This was delicious and heartwarming,  we ate some and froze the rest for another time. This should stay frozen for about 3 months in freezer. When you defrost you’ll thin out with a little stock while heating it up. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic , chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 can yellow corn, drained ( 15 oz. can)

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

5 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

2 15 oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed I used Cannellini but butter beans would be nice too, any white bean would work here

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried thyme

5 – 6 small red potatoes , cut into small pieces (had them in the house and they added a really nice flavor)

*fresh kale , rib removed and torn into small pieces.  This is totally optional, I had some kale on hand and decided to use it. Spinach would also be delicious.

Directions:

In a large stock pot ( Le Creuset) over medium heat , saute onion and garlic until tender and onion is translucent , approximately 5 minutes or so. Stir in carrots and corn, season with salt and pepper. I just throw in some kosher salt and a few grinds of the pepper mill. You will taste for salt and pepper towards the end , so don’t worry about seasonings. Cook carrots and corn for a few more minutes, give it a few stirs. Pour in chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and thyme. Bring soup to a low boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for app. one hour.

Separate soup into 2 equal portions, I just took out 1/2 of the soup into another bowl. Allow soup to cool to room temperature, once cooled down sufficiently puree  the half that you took out in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return that pureed batch to the remaining soup in stockpot and heat until warmed through. Adjust your seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. If soup appears to be very thick you can thin it out with a little water or broth, add a little at a time. I also added some fresh kale at this time, I removed the rib and tore the leaves into small pieces.  This is totally optional, but since I had the kale I figured I would. Serve hot with a nice crusty bread . I love the pretzel rolls from Whole Foods, check them out.