White Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes, small diced
• 3 15-ounce cans (4 ½ cups cooked) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or Great Northern, navy, butter or other white bean)
• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried tarragon
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 5 to 6 leaves Tuscan kale, chopped into small pieces

Instructions

1. Prep the fresh ingredients (see above).
2. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Add the minced garlic and cook until just browned, about 1 minute. Add the potato, drained and rinsed white beans, vegetable broth, lemon zest, dried tarragon, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
4. Remove 3 cups of the hot soup (including broth and vegetables) and carefully blend it in a blender or immersion blender. Then pour it back into the pot to create a lightly creamy broth (you can skip this step if you prefer and it still tastes great!).
5. Stir in the chopped kale and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes more. Taste and add any additional salt, to taste (depending on your brand of vegetable broth). Eat immediately or save leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.