I love cooking with Kale! It’s a great superfood, and I feel like I can skimp on other things or have two deserts if I’ve had a sufficient vitamin infusion from this leafy veggie. 
Vegetarian kale and rosemary soup is easy, and extremely nutritious. Only tricky part, if you’re not used to making beans, is soaking them enough but not too long. Soaking them about 6 hours is usually fine, leaving them firm but not too firm. Then rinse them a bit and drain so the starch doesn’t make them too gooey. Once they get the water and stalk added, and they’ve been simmering for a couple hours, they’ll get nice and soft. But, if you over soak they’ll be like moosh – so don’t do it.
Fresh ingredients are paramount here. Don’t over do it, just don’t add that sawdust herbs from a jar unless you’re doing this in a pinch.
I think the entire family will enjoy this one. For a substitution I would recommend just using vegitable stalk, and no water. And, if you want an added zing (without the vegetarian healthyness) go ahead and add chicken stalk. To go completely overboard add some bacon bits…very yummy, and still healthy, but the added fat kinda defeats the purpose.
I absolutely love this recipe and you will too.
- 1 pound dried navy beans,
- 7 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan
- 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups water
- 1 bunch chopped kale (about 8 ounces) (stems removed)
- 1½ tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Soak beans in water for 6 to 8 hours, and drain.
- Put the beans in a large pot with the garlic, Parmesan rind, rosemary sprigs, and bay leafs.
- Add the stock and water, and bring to a boil. Cover pot and reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, until beans are tender (about 2 hours)
- Add the kale and the salt. If the soup is too thick, add up to one cup of water.
- Reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender and melts into the soup, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small skillet set over medium heat. Add the remaining two rosemary sprigs to the oil, pressing to submerge the herbs. After heated, remove the skillet from the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes to infuse the oil.
- Serve in large soup bowls, with a drizzle of rosemary olive oil and a grating of lemon juice over each bowl
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