I bought some kale earlier this week while on my post vacation farmer's market / local farm stand shopping spree. My family is REALLY bad about eating greens, mostly because I'm REALLY bad about buying and cooking them. It's not that we don't like them, it's just that I kind of forget and that I don't have many recipes for them in my repertoire.
However, I've decided to turn over a new leaf - pun intended! - and work them into our diet more often. This is my first attempt. Beans and greens is a traditional Italian side dish or soup - it's one of those dishes that can take many forms. Since I have also been looking for new ways to include new grains in our diet as well, I've added barley to the mix.
The recipe as written is vegetarian, but you can use chicken stock if you prefer and even render some bacon before you saute the veggies. You can even use a different green if you have them on hand or don't happen to like kale; spinach would work well here too, but you'll have to adjust the cooking time to the green you choose. It's up to you! This approach is rather forgiving and pretty flexible.
Lisa's Beans, Greens & Barley Soup
- 1/2 16 oz bag of dried Great Northern or Cannellini beans, prepared according to package directions and drained*
- 1/2 cup of dried whole barley, prepared according to package directions
- 3 medium organic carrots, scrubbed and diced small
- 2 stalks of organic celery, scrubbed and diced small
- 1 large onion, small dice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 box of organic vegetable stock
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 15/16 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes (organic) with juice
- 1 large bunch of kale, washed, stems removed and coarsely chopped
- 64 oz of water
- 1 tsp onion powder (not onion salt)
- 1 tsp garlic powder (not garlic salt)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 small bunch of fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- grated parmesan
- good EVOO
*
Note: Once the beans are al dente (i.e., have begun to soften, but are not yet cooked through), add about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt or to taste. If you do not add some salt to the beans at this point, your beans will be bland in the midst of your flavorful soup.
In a large heavy bottom soup pot set over medium heat, saute onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil. When onion is translucent add the garlic and continue cooking until fragrant being careful not to let the garlic burn. Add the kale and stir to incorporate them into the onion/carrot/celery mixture. Once the kale has begun to wilt add the tomatoes, beans, barley and stock and stir to incorporate. Allow soup to cook for 30 minutes over medium heat being careful not to let the pot boil over.
After 30 minutes begin to test the kale for doneness. The kale should be wilted and much softer to the chew. You don't want to cook the life out of it, but kale is rather hearty so you want it to be digestible and easy to chew. Cook for more time if needed to reach the correct consistency. Before serving taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle into soup bowls, drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with grated parmesan and a little extra fresh ground pepper. Serve with good crusty bread and a glass of red wine. Enjoy!
We took a late summer vacation to Nashville, TN where we attended the wedding of a family friend and enjoyed some much needed down time. We had a great time, but are happy to be home.
Returning from a trip always finds me standing in front of the fridge and the freezer thinking, "what should I make?" since road trips nearly always equal too much fast food and travel in general typically means we're trying all of the local food fare which rarely includes mega doses of fresh organic produce and meat.
Since I am still on vacation, I decided to visit some of my local food sources today to see what I could pick up mid-week. First, was a much needed visit to "the tomato lady" on Southport road. The summer that I was on maternity leave I spent a lot of time driving around to all of the local farm stands trying tomatoes hoping for something like what my dad grew in WV. I finally found one source that far exceeds the taste of the rest and can tell you that no one else's tomatoes compare. Since it was later in the day, I was left to gather the few tomatoes that were left, all of them smaller in size, along with my regular intake of cherry tomatoes.
Next, I made my way to Copelands which is a small farm store near our house. I was able to procure a yummy looking red and yellow pepper. I had hoped for a zucchini or two, but alas due to the shortage of rain there was not a summer squash to be found.
So, I headed home thinking about what I should make to get us back on the veggie track. I remembered that I had a pizza crust stashed in the fridge (one of those handy items I keep for emergencies) and some organic Monteray Jack cheese. I put them all together and came up with a surprisingly good veggie pizza that we enjoyed tonight for dinner. Below is the recipe with a couple of updates that I think will improve the outcomes for you.
Simple Summer Tomato and Pepper Pizza
1 pizza crust of your choice (I used a ready made Pillsbury crust in a tube)
EVOO
salt and pepper to taste
5 or 6 small tomatoes sliced thin - 1/8" or less
2 small red/yellow/orange peppers sliced thin - same as the tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh basil, torn
3/4 cup shredded Monteray Jack cheese
Place oven racks as follows; the first on the lowest possible level and the second about 3/4 of the way to the top rack. Preheat oven based on pizza crust directions.
Coat the pan you are using with a thin film of EVOO. Spread the crust on the pan to cover surface and top crust with a little more EVOO. Sprinkle crust with salt and pepper to taste. Place crust in the oven and bake on the bottom rack for half of the recommended time. Remove crust from the oven and cover the edge of the crust with foil to keep it from burning during the next phase.
Top pizza crust with tomato slices until surface is completely covered. Do not overlap. You may have a few small areas between the edges of the slices where they come together, but basically you want as much surface area covered as possible with tomato slices. Follow with peppers using the same method. Top veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Turn the oven to broil and place the pizza on the top rack. Allow tomatoes and peppers to cook under the broiler, checking often, until they begin to look cooked through and have gained some color - a few burnt edges on the veggies are to be expected.
Remove pizza from the oven and top with the basil and cheese taking care to be sure both are evenly distributed across the top of the pizza. Remove foil from pizza crust edges.
Place the pizza back in the oven and rotate so that the side of the pizza that was to the back of the oven is now in front. Allow pizza to finish baking for the recommended amount of time. Pizza is done when crust is golden on the bottom and cheese is melted.
Slice and serve.
