Friday, April 10, 2009

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup


I used to dislike soup but when I started trying to eating healthier, I tried to incorporate more soup into my diet. Over the past couple of years I've only come across a handful of soups that I really enjoyed and this is one of them. And it's healthy. And filling! And easy! AND cheap! You should be convinced by now. It has a really great garlic flavour too. The red and yellow pieces you see are some roasted peppers I added - though I prefer the soup without them.

In addition to not being a big soup fan, I also didn't like beans. Over the past couple of years I've been trying to eat more beans (for protein and because they're so good for you). Black beans were the first ones I came to like, chickpeas I think I'm just used to, but now I've discovered cannellini beans (used in this soup) - delicious and my new favourite!

Other soups I've made:
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Middle Eastern Chickpea Soup
Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Beet, Barley & Black Bean Soup

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance

Basically my adaptations were to reduce the oil and salt, and use dried sage (instead of fresh) and crushed fennel (instead of seeds). The only thing I'd change when I make it next time is to maybe use less vegetable broth to make it thicker.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
a few dashes fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp fennel seeds, ground
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups cooked cannellini beans
1/4 tsp sage, dried
1 bay leaf
2 heads garlic, roasted*

In a stockpot over medium heat saute the onions in the oilve oil for 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the salt, black pepper, and fennel seeds; saute for 1 minute. Add the broth, beans, sage and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Add the roasted garlic and puree in batches in a blender or preferably a food processor.

*To roast garlic: Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350F. Slice off the top of each bulb, just enough to expose the tops of most of the cloves. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake for about 30-45 minutes. You know it's done when the cloves are very soft and squishy. (This is my way of roasting garlic - not from the cookbook.)

16 comments:

Amy said...

Mmm black turtle beans and cannelinis are my favourites too!

And I'm not much of a soup person either except a select few but this one sounds yummy so I'll have to try it!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I never used to be much of a "soup person" either - but DAMN does that soup look good!! I'm all for ANYTHING with garlic.

Kit Chen said...

Do you like hummus? That might be a way to eat chickpeas without eating the individual beans.

Oh yeah, I like black beans.

Deborah said...

It's a rainy, chilly day here today, so this is looking REALLY good!

Elyse said...

Soup has definitely become a part of my healthy diet, too! I just love how much healthy stuff you can fit into a dish. This soup looks delicious!

Pearl said...

mm :)

Steph said...

I'm not a crazy soup fan... it's the liquid that bothers me..haha. I love the filling in soups though!

Unknown said...

I LOVE soup! However, I haven't branched out into the pureed soups yet. This looks yummy, especially the garlic part.

LK Sisters said...

Love creamy soups, especially on a cool day. Thanks for the great soup recipe links!

Johanna GGG said...

my sister wont eat soup and when I met E he wouldn't either - but now so long as it is not too thin he loves the soups I cook - I just could eat soup every day - this one looks wonderful - glad you are coming around to soups and beans

Mark Scarbrough said...

I just had a long talk with a nutritionist this morning and she was saying how soups are wonderful, tight packs of vegetable nutrition--that they are a great way for almost everyone to get a large range of nutrients/vitamins/fiber in one bowl. Sure looks like a winner to me.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

I always love soup and this one does look good. I used to be horrified about this amount of garlic in a dish, but I know now that roasting the garlic takes the edge off and makes it very sweet. It must taste very, very good!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I have only recently come across cannelini beans and added them to my diet as well. They make a wonderful hummus type of dip too:D

Charissa said...

Wow. This soup is amazing, the amount of garlic seems intimidating but it's perfect. One of the best soups I've made, ever. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!!

eatme_delicious said...

Charissa: Glad you liked it! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm going to try this recipe with Butter Beans, which are also delicious. Really creamy.