The Domestic Vegan

Who makes soup when it’s 85 degrees outside?  Apparently I do!  I know a lot of people find the idea of eating soup during the summer to be unappealing, but it’s one of my favorite meals, so I can never go too long without making some…  Summer can’t stop me!

Earlier this week, I turned to one of my very favorite cookbooks for dinner inspiration: Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  As I’m sure I have mentioned before, this was the first vegan cookbook I ever bought, so it’s near & dear to my heart.  And just when I thought I had made nearly every recipe contained within (most of them many, many times), I noticed one I hadn’t prepared before: White Bean & Roasted Garlic Soup.  I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand, including a big batch of white beans that needed to be used up!

I don’t typically publish recipes on my blog that are from cookbooks because it’s not fair to the authors to give their recipes away for free – but this recipe in particular is available all over the internet, so I figured it’s okay for me to post my modified version for you guys & gals to try.  (Honestly, though, if you don’t own this cookbook, I highly recommend it!  It’s the best.)  Isa’s recipe was definitely the inspiration for this soup, but I changed it up quite a bit.  It turned out to be the best soup I have EVER had.  Ever.  And while the directions might look a little more involved than some other soups due to the time needed to roast the garlic, once that step is done, the soup comes together in less than a half hour!  Couldn’t be easier.

Note: Don’t be afraid of the two bulbs of garlic!  Yes, you read that right: Two bulbs, not two cloves.  But the garlic bulbs are roasted, which really mellows the flavor & yields a delicious, creamy result.  If you have never tried it before, prepare to fall in love!

Ingredients:

• 2 bulbs garlic
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 medium or large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water + 2 vegan bouillon cubes
• 3 cups cooked white beans (Great Northern or cannellini) – If canned, be sure to drain & rinse
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 cups kale leaves, removed from stems & chopped (about ½ of a bunch)
• 1 carrot, grated
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

First, roast the garlic.  To do that, preheat oven to 350ºF.  Peel as much of the papery skin as possible away from each garlic bulb.  Set the bulbs on a piece of tinfoil, and drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Wrap the bulbs up in the foil, and roast for 40-60 minutes, until the garlic cloves are soft & light brown in color.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before handling, then squeeze out each clove (it should be very easy to do).  Set aside.

Now heat the other Tbsp of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion & saute for 5 minutes.  Add the rosemary, fennel seeds, and bay leaf, and saute for 2-3 minutes more, until fragrant.

Add the water, bouillon, beans, nutritional yeast, and garlic pulp.  Increase heat to high & bring to a boil.  Once boiling, lower heat a bit & simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf.  Using an immersion blender, puree as much (or as little) of the soup as you want.  Personally, I like to leave a lot of whole beans, so I puree for only about 10-15 seconds.  Find the texture that you like!  (If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer half of the soup to a food processor or blender to puree that way.)

Now stir in the chopped kale & grated carrot.  The kale should wilt in less than a minute, and once it does, your soup is ready!  Taste for flavor, and add as much black pepper as you like.  I don’t need additional salt, but depending on your bouillon cubes, you might.  Add if necessary.

Serve with a nice green salad & a slice of crusty bread.  Enjoy!

Yield: 4 large servings

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I also wanted to say thanks for all the congratulations on our new pooch, Edith!  She is such a gem.  She seems to be adjusting to her new life very well, aside from the fact that she is an extremely picky eater!  She actually needs to lose a bit of weight, so we’re not too concerned about her lack of appetite, but we need to find a way to get her on a consistent eating schedule…  She finally ate an entire bowl of food this morning, so I’m hoping we’re on the right track!

Earlier this week, we took Edith to her first Movie in the Park!  It was The American President, and she seemed to really like it.  ;)

Here she is in the car on the way there:

And getting ready for the movie to start:

Isn’t she just a doll?!  She was so cute at the movie; she just made herself comfortable on our blanket & sat there snuggling the entire time.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!!!