white bean & arugula soup

This is the second green soup I've made in a week. 

Last week I made a potato, leek and spinach concotion as kind of a blahhhh it's Sunday evening and I want to make a healthy dinner but I feel kind of lazy so I'll just throw a bunch of stuff that's in the fridge into a pot and call it a soup soup. It turned out so well that I made another one this week, except I used arugula instead of spinach, white beans instead of potato, and onions instead of leeks. It turns out that a starch and a green, combined with other veggies, prove to be a perfect light, healthy spring soup. If you make this, don't feel like you have to adhere closely to the exact ingredients I used: try making this with celery, parsley, kale, chard, etc.

I liked the stronger peppery flavor of the arugula, but it would be good (and nutritionally dense) to use both arugula and spinach in the soup. I'd like to try this again using both beans and potatoes and maybe even some artichoke hearts. Maybe I'll try it next week so I can be three for three on weekly green soups.

Arugula & White Bean Soup

makes 8-10 servings

total time: 30 minutes

total hands-on time: 15-20 min

What you'll need:

couple of tbsps olive oil

1/2 an onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic

1 can (2 cups) cannellini beans

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups shredded (or sliced) green cabbage

2 1/2 cups fresh arugula

2 tbsps chopped chives

2 tbsps lemon juice

salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste

What you'll do:

 1. In a large soup pot, saute the onions in the oil until they're soft and translucent. Add the garlic.

2. Then add the cannellini beans, salt, and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, turn down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, covered.

4. Stir in the cabbage and cook until it's slightly limp, maybe 4-5 minutes. Then stir in the arugula and simmer until arugula is wilted. 

5. Add chives and lemon juice, stir well, then blend soup in a blender or a food processor.You can also use an immersion blender if you have one (I don't and frankly I've been scared of them since the infamous incident where my friend Juliet almost sliced off her finger while using one.) Season with more salt and pepper if you'd like.

 

see my reflection in the spoon? haha

This soup is totally vegan and gluten-free. You can garnish with cheese (feta, like I did, although of course that cancels out the vegan-ness), a dollop of sour cream (ditto for vegan-ness) croutons, or more chives. Or garnish with all of them at once!