Creamless White Bean and Garlic Soup
Yield: 6 servings
White bean soup with garlic is a classic comfort dish in the Mediterranean region.
Usually, it’s loaded with heavy cream, which also loads up the fat and calories. My version uses no cream at all, getting its body from adding extra garlic plus a lone starchy potato, and then blending most of the soup itself up into a luscious creamy consistency. (A few of the beans are reserved and added back in after blending for texture.)
What I love about this soup is that it takes under a half hour to make from start to finish, and I usually have the needed ingredients on hand — a couple of cans of beans, a potato, some herbs, stock and a little white wine, which I’ve been known to skip without catastrophe when I don’t happen to have it on hand.
With white beans being so full of protein and fiber — 1 cup of beans has about 20 grams of protein and more than 12 grams of fiber yet almost no fat — this meatless soup is filling without making you feel stuffed.
Serve it with a green salad with a tart Dijon and lemon vinaigrette for a typical Sunday supper that my husband grew up eating in Provence. Or, serve a half portion as a first course, and you’ll eat less at your main meal, which means you can stretch your meat budget in a sneaky and healthy way.
Or simply make this soup because it’s super easy and comforting — easing us from cold weather to warmer weather perfectly. A final note: Don’t let the garlic quantities intimidate you. Boiling the garlic tames the flavor and you’ll be left with a mellow, slightly sweet complement to the creamy beans.
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small chopped onion, about 1 cup
1 stalk celery, chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 medium carrot, chopped, about 1/3 cup
1/2 teaspoon smoked (or sweet) paprika
20 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into quarters
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 large sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Note: Traditionally, the herbs are tied up with kitchen string or placed in a cheesecloth pouch, called a “bouquet garni.” But fishing out the stems and allowing a few errant leaves to be blended up in the soup works quite fine for a quick weeknight soup.
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion, celery and carrot over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the smoked paprika, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, another 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and stock and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the potato, beans, herbs, bay leaf and 2 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil and let simmer, partially covered with a lid, over medium low heat until potato and garlic are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes (add a couple of ice cubes to expedite cooling). Spoon out the herb stems and bay leaf and discard.
4. Scoop out about a cup of beans and set aside. Use an immersion blender to blend the rest of the soup until creamy. Or, blend in a traditional blender, being careful not to get burned — blend in batches and remove the lid center and cover with a dishrag, to allow steam to escape.
5. Add the reserved beans back to the blended soup, adjust for seasoning, and serve.
Per serving: 181 calories; 2g fat; no cholesterol; 586mg sodium; 32g carbohydrate; 11g fiber; 3g sugar; 10g protein.
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Appreciate what you have.
Be thankful and stop complaining.
Live more, complain less.
Have more smiles, less stress.
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Posted by: "Jodi Thompson" <tigger63755@charter.net>
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