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.)