White bean soup is a great way to incorporate hearty greens like collard greens, kale, turnip or beet greens, or spinach. This soup uses a ton of greens as well as fresh cilantro for a fresh soup perfectly suitable for summer.
For this soup, I used dried white beans (fusion variety) from Burr Oak Gardens. We’ve tried a few of their varieties and they’ve all been amazing. They generally have a higher water content than store-bought dried beans. This translates to better texture when cooked, less cooking time, and they also have a richer flavor.
Using dried beans takes some time and planning. They need to soak and cook compared to canned beans that you can just dump and go. But the difference is pretty compelling. For one thing, you can decide what texture your beans will be. With canned beans, it’s one texture – mush. Don’t get me wrong, I love the versatility of beans, and canned beans are nice to have on hand for something quick. But if you have the time and the wherewithall to soak your beans overnight, you’ll be glad you did.
Adapt This Soup
Make this vegan by using vegetable broth. For a meatier bite, add some Italian sausage or bacon. Just cook the meat separately and add it with the sweet potatoes at the end (before you season so that you don’t over season the soup).
If you don’t have sweet potatoes, regular old russets, golden, or red potatoes would be very welcomed additions. Other veggie additions could include adding carrots and celery with the onions, adding turnips, green beans, or edemame at the end.
I used a combination of herbs that I had on hand. You can use a wide variety of herbs here – parsley, basil, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, and more.
This soup is highly adaptable and ready for whatever the season has bestowed up on you. The best type of recipe.
Make it in the Instant Pot!
If it’s a really hot summer day, take my word for it, use your instant pot and you won’t heat up your kitchen for hours unnecessarily like I did. See the note below if you are an instant potter (is that a term?). And bonus, you don’t need to pre-soak your beans if using an Instant pot.
This soup freezes well. It makes a lot, but freeze half of it for a tasty treat later.
Author: Nicki Dowland
Nicki Dowland is a teacher and retired nacho blogger. She documents shopping, cooking, and eating local over at her substack called Cooking The Harvest. Nicki would like to see more awareness for gender and racial equality and the movie Wayne’s World.
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