hungry poodle

At the risk of sounding like I’m tooting my own horn (which I am), I am proud of myself.  Due to an unfortunate encounter with a bad recipe years ago, I’ve had an aversion to kale and have avoided any recipes featuring this ugly, wrinkly, dark green (ergo nutritious) leaf. That is, until now. I hereby announce that I have broken the anti-kale spell, and if I can do it, then you vegetable haters can give it a shot as well.

Today is the first day of fall, and to celebrate, here is a delightful vegetable soup inspired by a recipe from Ellie Krieger in Fine Cooking Magazine. It is chock full of nutritious fall vegetables, including the aforementioned kale. It’s good to note that hot, broth-based soups with chunky vegetables are lower in fat, take longer to eat and are more filling than pureed or creamy soups. It’s the perfect light meal or afternoon snack. Here’s my bowl that I photographed just a few moments ago before I scarfed it down.

Fall Vegetable Soup

1 T. Olive oil
3 carrots, peeled, cut lengthwise and sliced into small pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 ” cubes
1/4 t. allspice
pinch cayenne pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
fresh thyme sprigs
2 cups coarsely chopped kale
1 cup cannellini or white beans (canned, drained and rinsed)

Heat oil in a large pot and add carrots and onion. Cook until they begin to soften, then add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add squash, allspice, cayenne, chicken broth, tomatoes and thyme sprigs. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Add kale and beans and continue to simmer until kale is tender, about 10 more minutes. Discard thyme sprigs, add salt to taste and serve. This refrigerates well and tastes great for several days.

Makes 8 cups
WW Points per cup: 2

Note: It’s easier to peel a butternut squash when it’s whole. Just hold it firmly and peel off the tough skin with a vegetable peeler, then cut it in half, dig out the seeds and chop from there. I bought the smallest one I could find, as this soup only needs two cups and the smaller squashes are easier to handle.

The original recipe called for chickpeas, but I’ve hit the wall with them lately and prefer the softness of cannellini beans. Use any bean your little heart desires.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:31 am and is filed under Articles, Recipes, Soups / Stews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.