minestrone with kale, white beans, tomatoes

 This recipe came to my inbox from the New York Times Recipes for Health, just when we had fresh kale to use. Pretty much everything else is in the pantry. We had our beautiful purple potatoes and purple kale from the CSA. As I was cooking, Jessica was heating up some amazing smelling smoked bacon next to me, so I threw in some of that, too, and garnished with crispy pieces. It would be vegetarian and vegan without the bacon and the parmesan rind. Yum yum.


 ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped 

Salt to taste

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice (fire-roasted)

4-6 cups water

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon oregano

1-2 medium potatos, diced
bay leaf
springs of thyme
Parmesan rind 

1/2 pound kale, stemmed, washed thoroughly, and chopped roughly

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

Freshly ground pepper

optional: crispy bacon for serving and to throw in pot

1. First do the aromatics: sweat onion, carrot and celery with some oil and a pinch of salt in soup pot. Stir, cook, until soft. Add garlic and stir about 30 seconds. Add in can of tomatoes + juice, with another dash of salt. Cook and stir 5-10 mins.  While this is going peel and chop potato.

2. Add water, tomato paste, oregano, potato and salt. Add thyme and bay leaf, parmesan rind, (and bacon if using), cover sand simmer 10-15 mins. While this is going, prep kale.

3. Add kale, simmer another 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Sir in beans (and bacon if using), and heat through 5 mins.

garnish options: grated parmesan, bacon, parsley

Recipe from New York Times, Recipes for Health