Zingy Kale, Leek and Cannellini Bean Soup

Autumn and winter are for soups, wouldn’t you agree!? Sometimes we want some freshness in these months too though and then this kale, leek and cannelini bean soup comes in handy with it’s zinginess from adding lemon to the broth. It might sound a little odd for a vegetable soup like this but trust me it makes for a yummy combo.

I’d like to think this soup is pretty versatile as well. If you wanted to you could swap the cannelini beans for others like butter beans, black eyed beans or chickpeas. You could also use other sturdy greens like chard or beat greens instead of the kale. Let what is in your store cupboard dictate which way you go but always include the onion, carrot and celery in the base of the soup as this gives it a great start!

If you want more budget friendly meal ideas check out these sauerkraut fritters and this zingy kale, leek and cannelini bean soup that were also featured in this video along with this curry.

Malin x

Kale, Leek and Cannellini Bean Soup

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

150 g cavolo nero / dino kale

1 brown onion

3 large celery ribs

2 large carrots

1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek

3 garlic cloves

5-6 cups water

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 tbsp dried thyme

2 cans (460 g drained) cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

0,5 lemon

0,25 cup nutritional yeast, optional

METHOD:

Remove the leafy part of the kale from its stem and rip the kale leaves into smaller bite sized pieces. Set them aside for later and chop the stems into small pieces. Also chop the onion and dice the celery ribs and carrot into similar sized pieces.

Heat a soup pot or dutch oven over medium low heat and drizzle in the oil. Once warm add the chopped vegetables to the pot, season with salt and give it a good mix to coat. Cover with a lid and sweat the vegetables for 7-8 minutes.

In the meantime clean and slice your leek on the diagonal into half cm thick slices. Also peel and finely slice the garlic. Once the vegetables are done sweating add the leek and garlic to the pot and saute for 3-4 minutes until the leek starts to soften.

Next pour in the water and crumble in the stock cubes. Season with the dried thyme as well as salt and pepper and stir well to dissolve the stock cube. Then add in the beans and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes or until the carrots are very tender.

To create a more creamy texture to the soup blend half of it either using a stick blender or a standing blender. If using a stick blender you can simply hold a little more than half of the vegetables and beans to one side with a wooden spoon and blend the rest. this will result in half broken pieces within the soup though. If using a standing blender simply ladle half of the soup into the jug and blend until smooth. Make sure to leave a gap in the lid though as the soup will be hot and could create a risky vacuum otherwise. Once it is blended smooth return it to the pot and mix well.

Finally, once the soup has been taken off the heat, zest the rind of the lemon into it and squeeze the juice in as well. Mix well and serve immediately for best results. Feel free to serve some good bread and vegan spreads on the side for a more filling meal.