Cooking with Whole Foods: Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

After this post and its comment thread evolved, Emily and I got to thinking that we ought to post some recipes that call for simple, healthy ingredients that people are often unfamiliar with to help us all use more whole foods in our cooking.

Today's recipe features the incredibly good-for-you but often mysterious ("what do I do with this?") vegetable, kale. It is simple, super quick, inexpensive, and sooooo tasty. We all gobbled it up in a hurry last night--even my little boys.


Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup

12 oz. bacon, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes, drained and quartered
6 cups chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 heads roughly chopped kale
freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook bacon over medium-low heat until it renders its fat (look for it to get bubbly), then drain at least half the fat (you choose how much fat you want--you at least need some for the garlic to cook in).
2. Add garlic and chile flakes; cook, stirring often, until garlic turns pale gold. Add tomatoes, broth, beans, and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in kale and cook 10 more minutes.
4. Season to taste with salt (you probably won't need any after the bacon and chicken broth!). Divide among serving bowls, sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Hope you enjoy!
-anne