Naraya Cooking Health Recipe: herbs de provence

POTATO + LEEK + WHITE BEAN SOUP

11:15 AM

I love soups this time of year! I've been making them like crazy lately. They're just so easy to throw together. And when it's time to clean out the fridge, I can almost always pull something together with a few stocked canned goods. They've made life a little easier around here with all the hustle and bustle over the holidays. So in comes this crazy good soup loaded with leeks, potatoes & white beans. I'm in love with leeks at the moment and used two large ones here. They add a wonderful mellow onion flavor that pairs perfectly with the other ingredients. I've made this soup a few times over the past couple of weeks and found that I love tarragon as my herb, along with savory. But don't worry, if you don't have either of these two herbs on hand, thyme and/or herbs de provence will work perfectly in their place. The latter are two herbs I always have stocked! The preferred potato to use would be red or Yukon gold. For the beans, I would stick with cannellini or great northern but chickpeas (garbanzo beans) would be ok too. If you manage to have left overs, the flavors get even better. Soup will thicken a bit after a couple of hours (here) from the potatoes which is nice (soup shown here is right after cooking and broth is thin). So gather your ingredients and get ready for a simple and flavorful soup to keep you warm and feeling your best any time of year!

Sauté your leeks, add spices and cook a minute more. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until potatoes are fork tender. And voila...soups on! It's that easy...

POTATO + LEEK + WHITE BEAN SOUP

Ingredients

3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, cubed 1/2 inch
2 medium/large leeks, sliced and dirt removed
1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water (water saute)
1 1/2 teaspoons each dried tarragon & savory or 1 tablespoon herbes de provence or thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 cups cooked or 2 cans (15 oz.) cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
5 cups vegetable broth
mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil/water over medium-high. Add leeks and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in herbs and spices, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in potatoes, beans, broth and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Serve with topped with chopped parsley if you like and a slice of crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Serves 4 - 6

Notes:

You can change up the herbs here with what you have on hand. I really love the tarragon and savory here but starter cooks may not have them on hand so the herbs de provence and thyme will be great too!

Here is a simple guide to slicing and cleaning leeks: How To Clean Leeks

cabbage

RUSTIC CABBAGE, POTATO & WHITE BEAN SOUP

9:07 PM

Wondering what to do with a half head of cabbage and potatoes I had sitting around brought about this hearty soup. It's brimming with vegetables, white beans and spices and is enough to feed a small crowd. Add some socca or crusty bread to the meal and you're all set. The socca I made here was seasoned simply with salt & pepper and can be whipped up while the soup is cooking. It's a nice accompaniment, not so much of a soaking bread like crusty bread, but delicious and filling. The soup in itself makes for a complete, nutritious meal with the beans adding a good amount of protein. I used leeks in this recipe, they lend a nice mellow onion flavor, but you can sub in an onion if you like. This turned out to be a great place to use up the leftover produce. I love cabbage in soups, this will be made many times to come. I'm happy to share another hearty soup for the recipe collection to inspire your senses, keeping you plant strong and loving it!

Feel free to change up the vegetables. If you're missing one or two, you can still pull this together and have a wonderful soup. If you can't find leeks, use 1 medium onion, diced, in its place. For the cabbage, use your favorite here. I happen to have regular green cabbage on hand but savoy cabbage would be great too.

For this time around I chose to use herbes de provence. I love the combination of spices, especially the fennel that I find in this blend from The Spice Hunter. I also added in a teaspoon of fennel here because I love it. Feel free to use any spices you like as most of them will work well here. You can use 2 - 3 teaspoons of an Italian blend or combine a few herbs using 1 teaspoon each: thyme, oregano, rosemary. You can also use sage, marjoram or parsley, savory, etc...in any combination as long it equals about 1 tablespoon.

When using Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth base, I never use the recommended serving size. I use just enough to flavor the water. For this recipe I used just under 2 teaspoons. This makes my jar last a lot longer and reduces the 'would be' sodium content per recipe. I've just recently (the last six months or so) been using their vegetable broth base and love it!

This is a one pot soup that's so easy to pull together. Saute the leeks, celery and carrots, add spices and garlic, cook a bit more. Add remaining ingredients ending with cabbage and white beans last as pictured above. Cover and simmer until cabbage and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve with bread of choice. Enjoy often!

RUSTIC CABBAGE, POTATO & WHITE BEAN SOUP

Ingredients

1/4 cup water or 2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil (for sauteing)
2 leeks (use white & pale green parts), sliced and rinsed
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence OR 1 teaspoon each thyme, rosemary, oregano
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
6 - 7 cups vegetable broth or water
2 medium gold potatoes, diced
1/2 head large cabbage, sliced (savoy or green)
3 cups cooked white beans or 2 cans (15oz), drained and rinsed (use cannellini, great northern or navy)
mineral salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped parsley, to garnish

Prepare your vegetables. After slicing your leeks, be sure to place them in a colander and rinse them well under cool running water to remove any dirt and sand that may have collected between the leaf sheaths. If there's a lot of dirt, place sliced leeks in a bowl of cool water and gently swish the leeks around to dislodge any unwanted remnants. Drain water by gently tilting the bowl with one hand and holding your hand over the leeks with the other so they don't fall out, or simply drain into a colander. Repeat until leeks are clear of dirt and sand. Here is a good tutorial from, The Kitchn, on how to wash and prep your leeks. Lastly, another method you may try is this: Slice off the root and the dark green parts. Slice in half vertically. Run under cold running water, opening up the layers as you rinse. Lay on flat surface and slice thinly hortizontally.

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, heat water/oil over medium to medium-high heat, add leeks, carrots and celery, saute for 5 minutes. Smells delicious already! Add garlic and spices, saute for 1 minute more or until fragrant. Add tomatoes, broth, potatoes, cabbage and beans, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, until potatoes and cabbage are tender. Taste for seasoning adding salt & pepper as needed.

Serve topped with parsley and a serving of socca or crusty bread. Enjoy!

Serves 6 - 8.

Notes:

As noted above, change the herbs to whatever you have on hand. You could also use an Italian blend seasoning if you like. I also like to add in a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

I would suggest using the biggest pot you have for ease, this makes quite a bit of soup.

If leeks are not available, sub in 1 medium onion, diced.

basil

Chickpea Ratatouille Niçoise

9:01 PM

beans

WINTER POTATO, WHITE BEAN & KALE SOUP

1:53 PM

Another soup is born! I love soups...plus it's raining here today and I wanted something easy and warm. I've been on the computer most of the day too setting up my Instagram account and playing with my phone, linking everything together with social media. All that stuff takes time and I'm glad to be done with that. It's time well spent as it's a new experience for me...and your more than welcome to join me if you like to see what else is going on in my kitchen, as well as out and about in the big wide world. This was a perfect soup to accompany the weather and my geek day. It's also great for it's healing, relaxing, warming and flavorful qualities. All the vegetables and spices came together so well. The purplish hue of the broth comes from the purple sweet potato I used. With all this color, you know it's full of nutrients. The sweet potato and sun-dried tomatoes add a nice sweetness to the soup. If you can't find purple potatoes, you can sub with any color you can find. If you don't care for sweet potatoes, use Yukon gold, red or purple or blue potatoes. This is a perfect hearty and nutrient dense soup for those cool afternoon days and chilly nights. It was so good and filling!

WINTER POTATO, WHITE BEAN & KALE SOUP

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, diced (orange, purple, white or combo)
1 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil OR 1/4 cup water
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (15 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked
small handful sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 - 5 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons herbes de provence or thyme
3 or 4 handfuls kale, chopped (I used tuscan)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

In large pot or dutch oven, heat oil/water over medium heat, add onion and saute for 5 minutes, until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and herbes de provence, saute 1 minute.

Add broth, potatoes, beans and kale, bring to a boil, cover, turn down heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes...just until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat add nutritional and give a good stir.

Serve with crusty bread and a light dusting of almond parmesan.

Makes about 4 - 6 servings.

Notes:

Use any potatoes you like, just use about 5 cups worth. Leave the skin on or remove it according to your preference.

*Herbes de provence is a great herb blend for the pantry. I use them quite often in my soups, like this Parsnip & Split Soup and Chickpea Ratatouille. It won't go to waste if you love soups and cook often enough. And if you can't find it, the thyme is a great herb all by itself!

Recipe adapted from Elizabeth Antionette

Naraya Cooking Health Recipe

POTATO + LEEK + WHITE BEAN SOUP

RUSTIC CABBAGE, POTATO & WHITE BEAN SOUP

Chickpea Ratatouille Niçoise

WINTER POTATO, WHITE BEAN & KALE SOUP

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