Liz’s Loaded Tuscan White Bean Soup (in mason jars!)

Oh do I have a treat for you soup lovers out there. 

A healthy grab-and-go lunch option.

When Liz told me about her soup she froze in mason jars 
and pulled out for lunch every day I was in awe.  
Already portioned, will last in the freezer, 
and in a no spill easy to bring to work container. 

That is genius.  

Why didn't I think of portioning and storing my soup like that?

Enough about my lack of creativity and onto the soup mastermind.  



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Liz's Loaded Tuscan White Bean Soup

A Guest Post By:

Liz Buchanan 
Runner and Blogger at Holbrook Ceramics 
You can read more about the girl behind the blog here!

As one of Katie’s close friends, most of our conversations include some sort of discussion around eating. What are you making for dinner tonight? Can I get that recipe? Is it socially acceptable to eat my lunch yet? Well during one of our standard daily conversations about food, Katie suggested I write a guest blog post on the soup I was planning to make this week. Obviously I jumped at the opportunity!

I’m a big “soup for lunch” kind of gal but often run into the issue that I’m starving just 2 hours after I eat. I loved soups with a chicken broth base, beans and some sort of green. After trying combination after combination, I finally found one soup that is healthy for me and keeps me full until dinner (score!).  I give you Liz’s Loaded Tuscan White Bean Soup.

Ingredients

·         6 ounces lean bacon or pancetta (chopped)

·         2 yellow onions (chopped)

·         5 cloves garlic

·         1 bunch of Kale (cleaned, chopped)

·         48 ounces (6 cups) low sodium chicken broth

·         16 ounces (2 cups) water

·         2 cans of cannellini beans (rinsed, drained)

·         1 can of red kidney beans (rinsed, drained)

·         Bay Leaf

·         Fresh Rosemary

·         Fresh Thyme

·         Grated Parmesan cheese

·         S & P

If you’re like me and your grocery store doesn’t always carry everything under the sun you might not be able to find everything you need. Rather than panicking and putting more miles on your car to go to another grocery store, simply substitute. My grocery store ran out of cans of cannellini beans, so I purchased a bag of dried beans that I just needed to soak first: cover the beans with water, boil for 4 minutes, and let sit for an hour. Easy enough! Also, I couldn’t find pancetta but Center-Cut lean bacon was on sale so I jumped for that. Also, our grocery store sells little “roasting” packages of fresh herbs that include Bay, Thyme and Rosemary. I was able to get this for $1.99 rather than buy 3 individual packs and spending $6. Ok, enough of my rambling – let’s cook!

In your soup pot over medium heat, 
add your chopped pancetta or bacon and cook until crispy.

Remove your pot from the heat and spoon out your bacon onto a folded paper towel, and remove almost all the bacon grease from your pot (your stomach and hips will thank you for this step).

Put your pot back over the medium heat and add your onions. Cook those down for 5-6 minutes stirring constantly. Then you’re going to add your garlic and cook for a minute. Next you’ll add your stock, water, beans and fresh herbs. I tied mine together with twine so I wouldn’t have to fish out each piece individually later.

Turn your heat down to simmer and let that sit for an hour to soak up the herby goodness. During this time I watched 2 episodes of Weeds (thank you Netflix). Next you’ll want to fish out your herbs, and add your kale.

Put the lid on your pot, and let that simmer for another 30-45 minutes (just long enough to get through another episode). When you’re ready to eat, ladle a hearty serving, add a spoonful of your pancetta/bacon on top and sprinkle with some grated parmesan!

If you’re preparing this ahead of time for your work-week, go ahead and fill up 3-4 Mason Jars. They are easy to transport, easy to defrost and super durable! Be sure to leave some extra room if you plan on freezing them though, you don’t want to your jar to crack in the freezer (speaking from experience).