Roasted Vegetable Soup with Homemade Beans

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe another year has passed. Time seems to be moving quickly—for me anyway. This winter, I set a goal of making as many recipes from the Natural Food Chef Program as I can. I have wanted to do this since graduating, but I never made time. This winter, I am sticking to my word! One of the first recipes I made was this roasted vegetable soup. It is so tasty and warming on a cold winter day. I absolutely love the variety of vegetables, and amount it makes—I always have leftovers for the week. I recently brought it to a potluck over the holidays and everyone loved it. Pro tip: It’s absolutely delicious paired with a fresh piece of toasted sourdough bread with butter 🙂

Why We Love It

Recently, I have been experimenting with making beans at home and it is so easy! Soaking beans increases the bioavailability of minerals and it breaks down hard-to-digest starches. This aids in digestibility. Canned beans are typically only softened, not soaked, so they do not have the bioavailability that soaked beans have. This can cause digestive distress in certain individuals.

Homemade Beans Method

To make homemade beans, measure out how much you want (I used 2 cups of navy beans), and soak overnight in warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. The salt adds flavor and the baking soda helps break down the bean’s hard shell. In the morning, drain the water and rinse, add the beans to a heavy-bottomed pot, cover with cold water, add any flavors (I added a bay leaf and a piece of kombu), bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 40 minutes or until soft. Absolutely delicious!

I really like the versatility of the ingredients. I love the combination of the veggies as they are, but I’d imagine they would be great with other veggies, too. You can swap spinach for the kale, white potatoes for the sweet potatoes, yellow squash for the zucchini and cannellini beans or chickpeas for the navy beans. I have added Italian sausage in the past, which I highly recommend because it enhances the flavors of the soup.

One of my favorite things about this soup is the secret ingredient—Parmesan rind! Always, always, always save your Parmesan rinds. You can freeze them for a long time and they are great to have on hand. It is the perfect way to elevate a dish because it adds a little more saltiness that draws out all of the flavors even more. Lastly, this soup yields about 8 servings, which for me is a lot of leftovers for weekday lunches. It’s so easy to store and keeps for up to a week.

I am so excited for you all to try this soup. It’s a perfect fresh start to the New Year and fun to share with friends and family this winter.

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Homemade Beans

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 small zucchinis, half bias cut

6 large carrots cut into bias-rounds

1 sweet potato peeled and diced

Ghee or coconut oil

1 fennel bulb

1-cup celery, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-28 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with juice

2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock

2 cups homemade beans or 2-15oz. canned beans, drained and rinsed*

1 small bunch lacinato kale

1 small package of basil, cut into ribbons

1 Parmesan rind

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
Prepare the first four vegetables and toss separately in a large bowl with cooking fat, salt and pepper.
Place vegetables on separate baking sheets that are lined with parchment paper and roast until tender and browned. Roasting times will vary according to vegetable and sixe of cut.
In a large stockpot, heat oil and add fennel, celery and garlic. Sweat until vegetables are tender.
Add roasted vegetables, diced tomatoes, Parmesan rind and stock. If you are using canned beans, add them at this time. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
During the last 5 minutes, add kale and homemade beans if using.
Remove from heat and stir in the basil. Serve.

Makes 8 servings

*If you are using homemade beans, be sure to add them in towards the end since they are already cooked. If you add them earlier, they could start to break down even further, which is not ideal. Canned beans are fine to add in before bringing to a boil since they will not break down like homemade beans will.

Supplies Needed

For beans:

Medium-sized bowl
Measuring cup (liquid and dry)
Heavy-bottomed pot with lid
Colander

For soup:

Oven to 400
2 large baking sheets
Parchment paper
Cutting board
Chef’s knife
Large stockpot with lid
Can opener
Spoon to stir

Recipe from Nutrition Therapy Institute

Homemade beans from the Nourished Kitchen

Learn to prepare food for maximum nutrient-density

Become a Natural Food Chef! Throughout the Natural Food Chef program you will learn how to properly prepare ingredients, like the homemade beans in this recipe, to ensure the bioavailability of important nutrients in a wide variety of foods. Attend a live cooking demonstration to start your journey in supporting optimal health through your cooking.

About the Author: Meghan McGee is a graduate of NTI’s Certified Natural Food Chef program as well as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She believes food is the most powerful catalyst that brings people together. Sitting around a table, enjoying a nourishing meal with strangers or friends is her absolute favorite thing to do. Her mission is to inspire others to take control of their health. You can find Meghan’s personal chef and other services at megsnourishedkitchen.com.

Photo by Meghan McGee