Simple White Bean Soups: Simple Palate, So Many Variations
When I lived on a farm for several months while researching a book, I had nothing in the kitchen except a vintage 1970s Crock-Pot and an old frying pan. I went to the local health food coop and purchased as many different kinds of dried beans as I could find and experimented with making bean soup using nothing but beans, salt, and a couple of herbs from the small herb garden outside the kitchen door.
What I discovered was something that peasants the world over know: beans in and of themselves can make a delicious, satisfying meal. And each of them has its own unique flavor, texture, and color.
There is nothing quite so satisfying as a simple white bean soup. Laced with olive oil and some rosemary, it’s one thing; drizzled with basil pesto, it’s another. My Portuguese grandmother’s people are famous for adding kale to everything, including white bean soup. Feel free to use your imagination and the ingredients you have on hand.
Basic White Bean Soup
Serves 6
I am very happy with this simple soup, and I eat it often. I recommend using a slow cooker because that’s the easiest and most effortless way to cook beans. The cooking time will depend upon the type of beans and how fresh they are. I also like to add the salt and garlic at the end of the cooking time, for a fresher garlic flavor. And I cannot overemphasize the importance of adding enough salt to the soup. Without salt, the soup will taste bland and uninteresting.
2 cups dried white beans (cannellini, navy, baby lima, whatever)
6 to 8 cups water (depending upon how thick you want the soup)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt, or more as desired
4 cloves garlic
Rinse the beans thoroughly and place them in the insert of a 6- or 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water, onion, and bay leaves and cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.
When the beans are tender, add the salt and press the garlic into the soup. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some or all of the beans to thicken the soup. If you’d like a thinner consistency, add more water.
Tuscan White Bean Soup with Olive Oil and Rosemary
Serves 6
Mangiafagioli. Bean eaters. That what they call ’em. Immortalized in a famous sixteenth-century painting housed in the Galleria Colonna in Rome, the painting celebrates centuries of what has kept the Tuscan peasant alive and well fed. I’m with ’em. Take a basic bean recipe, and doll it up with a few simple ingredients.
2 cups dried white beans (cannellini, navy, baby lima, whatever)
6 to 8 cups water (depending upon how thick you want the soup)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt, or more as desired
4 cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil, for garnish
⅓ cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped coarsely, for garnish
1 small, firm tomato, diced, for garnish
Rinse the beans thoroughly and place them in the insert of a 6- or 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water, onion, and bay leaves and cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.
When the beans are tender, add the salt and press the garlic into the soup. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some or all of the beans to thicken the soup. If you’d like a thinner consistency, add more water.
Serve the soup in individual bowls, garnished with a generous drizzle of olive oil, a tablespoon of chopped, fresh rosemary, and a few pieces of tomato. Mangia tutti!
Soupe au Pistou
Serves 6
Nothing could be better than a pistou made with vegetables taken directly from your garden . . . or the farmers’ market. The exact ingredients of this soup may vary from garden to garden and cook to cook, but it commonly contains zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, onion, and eggplant—all the favorite flavors of southern France. The unifying theme is the pistou, similar to Italian pesto: that earthy combination of lots of basil, olive oil, and Parmesan.
Soup
1 cup dried white beans (cannellini, navy, baby lima, whatever)
6 to 8 cups water (depending upon how thick you want the soup)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
1 pound (about 4 medium) tomatoes, chopped
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt, or more as desired
6 cloves garlic
Pistou
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 large cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil
Salt
Make the soup: Rinse the beans thoroughly and place them in the insert of a 6-or 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water, onion, bay leaves, thyme, and Parmesan rind, if using, and cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.
During the last hour of cooking, when the beans are almost tender, add the tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans and continue cooking until they are tender.
Add salt to taste and press the garlic into the soup. Remove and discard the bay leaves. You can use a handheld immersion blender to puree some or all of the beans to thicken the soup, if you wish.
Make the pistou: Place the basil, Parmesan, and garlic in the work bowl of a food processor and let the machine run until the basil and garlic are finely chopped. Turn off the machine, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then turn on the processor and drizzle the olive oil slowly through the feed tube until the pesto is smooth. Add salt to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls, then drizzle some of the pistou into each bowl.
Portuguese White Bean Soup with Cilantro, Coriander, and Mint
Serves 6
My dear grandmother was not much of a cook, but she did have a few dishes inspired by her Portuguese ancestors, which she made often. Bean soup with kale, cilantro, and mint was one of them.
2 cups white beans (cannellini, navy, baby lima, whatever)
6 to 8 cups water (depending upon how thick you want the soup)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 cup tomatoes, diced
2 cups kale, shredded
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon salt, or more as desired
4 cloves garlic
⅓ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
⅓ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Rinse the beans thoroughly and place them in the insert of a 6- or 7-quart slow cooker. Add the water, onion, and bay leaves and cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.
When the beans are almost tender, add the tomatoes, kale, and coriander seeds and continue cooking until the kale is wilted, about 20 minutes. Add salt to taste and press the garlic into the soup. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
Ladle the soup into bowls, then garnish with chopped cilantro and mint.
Salad Dressings: Greens on Greens
A good dressing can be used not only to lightly embellish garden fresh greens but also to drizzle over cooked vegetables, or as a dip for eating veggies raw and straight.
Buy good, organic oil in small amounts so that it is less likely to go rancid after sitting too long. This is especially important if you are using nut oils, because they are very fragile. Some of my favorite oils are organic extra-virgin olive oil, walnut oil, peanut oil, sesame seed oil (especially toasted), sunflower seed oil, and safflower oil. Store them in the refrigerator after they are opened. I also often buy unfiltered oils, which are cloudy, and which, to my mind, often have a deeper flavor than their filtered cousins.
I rarely use 100 percent olive oil in a salad dressing, as I find it overwhelming. I generally use a combination of a less distinctive oil, such as a filtered safflower or canola oil, in conjunction with a small portion of olive oil.
Proportions of vinegar or lemon juice to oil may vary greatly from recipe to recipe, but the basic formula of ¼ to ⅓ cup of vinegar or lemon juice to ⅔ to ¾ cup of oil seems to work in most cases.
You can use a mini food processor to blend the oils and chop the herbs, or you can do it the old-fashioned way, using a wire whisk. If I want a thicker dressing, I often drizzle in the oil slowly. Add garlic or not, as you like.
Basic Salad Dressing
Makes about 1 cup
The key to a good dressing is to use the best ingredients you can afford. I like using Meyer lemons from my tree, vinegar I have made in my own kitchen (or something else really interesting), and “designer” salt, for instance. Herbs, if used, always come straight out of the garden.
¼ to ⅓ cup vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice, or a combination
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, pressed (optional)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
⅔ to ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil or mixed oils
Freshly ground black pepper
Place the vinegar, salt, garlic, if using, and mustard, if using, in the work bowl of a mini food processor and blend well. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil through the top. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste.
If you like doing things the old-fashioned way (and I often do), then start by placing the garlic and salt in a large mortar and pestle and smoosh them up. Then whisk in the vinegar and mustard. Slowly work in the oil while whisking, then grind in the pepper.
Basil Walnut Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup
Use this vinaigrette on a salad of fresh garden tomatoes and mozzarella, or drizzled over room temperature eggplant or green beans. It is also good with garden greens.
¼ cup wine vinegar, or half wine vinegar and half balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, or more as desired
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped coarsely
¾ cup olive oil or mixed oils
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup walnuts, chopped coarsely and toasted
Combine the vinegar, mustard, garlic, and basil in the work bowl of a food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then with the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
Add salt and pepper to taste, then add the walnuts, pulsing only until the walnut pieces have reached the desire texture. Do not pulverize them.
Cilantro-Coriander Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup
For some reason, the seeds of the cilantro plant are most commonly referred to as coriander seeds, whereas the leaves are most commonly termed cilantro. This recipe contains both the seeds and the leaves, and would be great drizzled over a sliced avocado and grapefruit salad.
2 cloves garlic, pressed
⅓ cup vinegar, or 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed
lemon or lime juice plus 3 tablespoons vinegar
⅔ cup olive oil or mixed oils
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the garlic and vinegar in the work bowl of a mini food processor and blend well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then with the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil.
Add the coriander seeds, cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste, then pulse until the dressing reaches your desired consistency.
Rice Salad: A Meal in Itself
Although Americans rarely eat warm or cold rice salads or rice as an entrée, I was surprised to find a warm rice salad on the entrée menu at the lovely Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon, just north of Los Angeles. It was delicious and set me thinking about the possibilities of rice and rice salads as the basis for a meal.
Basic Brown Rice
Serves 2 to 4, depending upon how hungry you are
Most of us probably use a rice cooker to cook rice. It’s convenient and easy, but may not always produce a light, fluffy finished product. If you’re in a hurry, go ahead and use the rice cooker. I do. But if you’ve got a little more time, and you’d like a nice, light, fluffy batch of rice as a basis for a salad, why not try cooking it the old-fashioned way: boiled in a pot with lots of water, just as you would cook pasta. You can prepare your favorite toppings while the rice cooks.
4 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups uncooked long-grain brown rice, rinsed
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Add the rice and boil briskly until the grains are al dente, about 40 minutes. The cooking time may vary accordingly with the variety of rice.
When the rice is al dente, drain it in a colander, rinse lightly under cool water, then drain thoroughly.
Put the rice in a wide bowl and fluff it up with your fingers. It’s ready to serve with your favorite toppings, or to use in a salad.
Greek-Style Rice Salad with Dill Dressing
Serves 4 to 6
If you let this salad sit for a few hours after preparing it, whether at room temperature or in the refrigerator, the flavors begin to blend and deepen. In short, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. My friend Kathy thinks this is the best thing that ever came out of my kitchen.
1 recipe Basic Brown Rice (click here)
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced finely
2 medium tomatoes, diced finely
1 cup Mediterranean black olives, sliced in half and pitted
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced finely
1 (7-ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled
Vinaigrette
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons vinegar
⅔ cup olive oil or mixed oils
2 teaspoons dill seeds
¼ cup chopped fresh dill leaves
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl, combine the rice, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, green pepper, and feta.
Make the vinaigrette: Combine the garlic, lemon juice, and vinegar in the work bowl of a mini food processor and blend well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then with the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Add the dill seeds, dill leaves, salt, and pepper to taste, then pulse until the dressing reaches your desired consistency.
Toss the vinaigrette with the salad. Refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving. Serve chilled, or let the salad come to room temperature first.
Tabbouleh-Style Rice Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Parsley-Mint Vinaigrette
Serves 4 to 6
Like the Greek-Style Rice Salad with Dill Dressing (click here), this can be served at room temperature or cold, over a few leaves of romaine lettuce.
1 recipe Basic Brown Rice (click here)
2 cups finely diced tomatoes
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced finely
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
Vinaigrette
⅔ cup olive oil or mixed oils
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt
2 pinches of ground cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper
½ head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
In a large bowl, combine the rice, tomatoes, cucumber, and scallions.
Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients in the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until the herbs are finely chopped and everything is thoroughly mixed.
Toss the vinaigrette with the salad. Refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving. Serve chilled on a bed of romaine lettuce, or let the salad come to room temperature first.
Brown Rice, Olive, and Artichoke Salad with Chive and Oregano Vinaigrette
Serves 4 to 6
This is a delightful, light, healthful, flavorful rice salad. The olives give it a touch of salt, and you can use artichokes, peas, or broccoli, all with equally good results. The dressing is light and lemony, and for an even lighter touch, I have substituted tomato juice from my garden tomatoes for half of the oil. You can serve the rice on a bed of lettuce and add cooked white or black beans for extra protein, then serve either plain or nestled in a leaf or two of butter lettuce.
1 recipe Basic Brown Rice (click here), warm or cold
1 cup black Mediterranean-style olives, halved
1 cup artichoke hearts, sliced (see Note)
Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large egg
⅔ cup olive oil or mixed oils
4 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
¼ cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon salt, or more as desired
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl, combine the rice, olives, and artichokes. Set aside.
Place the lemon juice and egg in the work bowl of a mini food processor and blend until frothy. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil from the top. Press the garlic into the dressing. Add the chives and oregano, then add salt and pepper to taste and thoroughly blend everything together.
Toss the vinaigrette with the salad. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: I prefer fresh baby artichoke hearts, but canned or frozen will work.