Description
Hearty, healthy and filled with wholesome ingredients, this Tuscan Bean Soup will conjure up images of a garden-fresh meal in the hillsides of Florence. Vegan, oil-free and gluten-free.
Scale
Ingredients
- 6–8 cups of a combination of chopped/diced vegetables of your choice. I made my first version with baby bella mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, yellow squash and zucchini and loved this combination.
- 4 bulbs fresh garlic, diced
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 cups vegetable broth (this makes a pretty thick soup that is almost stew-like so if you want it thinner, add another cup of broth)
- 2 (14 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (28 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juices
- ¾ cup brown rice or pearl barley (also known as Job’s Tears – a gluten-free grain)
- 1 bunch chopped kale with spines removed
- 2 teaspoons tamari sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions (cook time ~8 hours)
- The night before, sauté the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of water until translucent.
- Chop all of your veggies.
- Store all veggies (cooked and raw in the refrigerator).
- In the morning, add the vegetables, broth, tomatoes, beans, salt and pepper and first round of thyme and rosemary to the slow cooker. Mix the ingredients. Set your slow cooker on high for 8 hours.
- Add the brown rice 90 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Stir.
- Add the kale 15 minutes before the end of cooking time. Stir. You can substitute spinach for the kale. If doing so, add it 5 minutes before the end of cooking time so that it is just wilted but not completely mushy.
- Add the 2nd set of thyme and rosemary and tamari sauce just before serving and mix well.
- Adjust seasonings (thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper) and serve hot.
Stove top Instructions (cook time 40 mins)
- In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic in a little bit of broth until translucent.
- Add the vegetables, broth, tomatoes, beans, rice or pearl barley, salt and pepper and first round of thyme and rosemary to the pot and mix.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add kale and tamari sauce and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Adjust seasonings (thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper) and serve hot.