Beans and Greens (and Grains) Soup

Book Giveaway

First a bit of business, Susan and Claire, you two are the winners and will EACH get a copy of The Cleaner Plate Club. I loved all the comments so much that I decided to send out my last two copies I have on hand instead of just one giveaway. Lovely, Suzanne, who ended up doing a book giveaway on HER site, I will be happy to send you both a copy to give away and one for you.

So, farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com with your snail mail addresses for the three of you!

Beans and Greens and Grains Soup

Beans and Greens is the name of a great program here locally for six farmers markets. Basically, any food stamp card purchases of fresh, healthy produce are doubled. So, five dollars will buy a food stamp recipient TEN dollars in healthy food.

As a salute to this program that makes healthy food available to folks who need it most, I decided to create a special soup, a meal in a bowl, that can be made from beans and greens as well as whole grain purchased on the cheap from the bulk bins. The chicken sausage is optional, but a nice addition. Kale and leeks are spring vegetables that should be making an appearance very soon (I hope).

2 leeks, white parts and light green, diced (or a small onion)

4 carrots, peeled and diced small

1 tbs. olive oil

1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped

1 cup whole grains such as whole wheat, barley, whole oats or brown rice

(Kashi's pilaf is also a great grain blend for this)

12 oz. cooked mild chicken sausages, sliced

1 lb. frozen black eyed peas, (see below for canned or dried options)

10 cups chicken broth

1 large parmesan rind

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Add the leeks or onion and the carrots. Place the lid on and sweat the veggies for 10-15 minutes to begin to release the flavors.

Add the whole grains and the broth. Bring to a boil. Add the kale and sausage, parmesan rinds, frozen beans. When this returns to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and simmer for 50 minutes, or until grain is cooked al dente. Remove the rind. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For dried beans, soak the beans overnight first. Sweat the veggies as above, add the dried beans and 12 cups of stock. Cook for 1.5 hours until beans are just becoming tender. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe. For canned beans, rinse and drain 2 cans of beans. Add these for the last 20 minutes of simmering.