Tuscan White Bean Soup

I’ve never been into New Year’s Resolutions per se, but with all the upheaval of the past year, I’ve spent the past few months feeling somewhat disoriented, like I’ve lost my footing. I’m sure it’s justified – I’ve gotten married, had a baby, moved halfway across the country, and transitioned from working in a busy office to working from home. Just one of the above is enough to throw anyone off for a bit. And I won’t even begin to talk about sleep deprivation here. After floundering week upon week, longing for a routine and a rhythm to my days but ultimately spending too much time in my pajamas (by turns a blessing and a curse of working at home, where no one sees you) and finding myself beset by cabin fever every Thursday when I suddenly realize I haven’t left the house since the previous weekend, I needed to set some defined goals for myself, to help me reestablish the habits that bring me physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. It has come down to the most basic practices, like drinking enough water every day, because even that has slipped.

The New Year rolled around at just the right time, prompting me to think about how I want my days to look in 2013, what I want to have accomplished by its close. I want to be healthier and more fit, which means daily exercise and healthier cooking, and maybe a little less baking. I want to be more productive here on Beyond Toast and with my other writing projects. I want to get back to reading intentionally. I want to practice gratitude more. I want to know God more deeply. I want to find community here in Virginia. All of this will take time, effort, and discipline.

So here’s my list – not that you need to know it, but putting it here helps me feel some semblance of accountability. I’ll admit that my real list has sub-bullets with even more specific goals, but I’ll spare you that level of detail.

• Read the Bible daily
• Keep a gratitude journal
• Find a local church to get involved in
• Drink enough water
• Exercise six days a week
• Cook more healthily, eat treats less
• Get out of the house daily, even if it’s just for a walk with Lili
• Work up to blogging three times a week (this may mean I take less photos in order to blog more often. If that’s all I have time for in this season, so be it.)
• Schedule weekly time to work on my novel (and finish it)
• Work on my photography skills (I’d like to find a workshop or class to take, but barring that, I can study and practice on my own. I already have this fantastic book by Helene Dujardin.)
• Read 26 books (that’s a book every two weeks – very doable, I think. I’m already three quarters of the way through my first of the year, The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz. It’s funny and charming and filled with fantastic recipes. I never tire of reading about Paris).

As a runner, I’m blessed to be in Virginia, where the temperature in January hovers in the 40’s and 50’s, and there’s no snow to prevent me from getting out. I took my first run of 2013 today, blessedly sans all my Midwest winter running gear, shuffling my way along a 1.75-mile route circling my home. By any standards, it was not a great run, but I felt successful afterward, because I’ve taken the first baby step back toward the fit version of myself.

I’m well on my way back to a healthier kitchen, too. Even though winter here isn’t nearly as cold as it is in Michigan, there tends to be a constant damp chill to the air, and I turn frequently toward pots of warming, comforting, nourishing soup. Thanks to a cookbook my mom bought me a couple of Christmases ago, Sunday Soup, I got into the habit of making a pot of soup most weekends throughout the fall and winter months. It’s a lovely way to feed family and friends, too.

On Sunday night I made this Tuscan White Bean Soup, adapted from a recipe in Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist (I just finished reading an advance copy, a side benefit of working for the author’s publishing house. The rest of you can pre-order by clicking on the link provided. It’s a warm and inspiring memoir centered around food and community – totally worth a read), who in turn adapted it from Nancy Silverton’s A Twist of the Wrist. I admit I tinkered a fair amount – I used less beans, added some chicken stock, diced a few redskin potatoes and threw those in as a nod to Eli, who loves potatoes more than he loves beans.

Now, I’m not generally a bean soup person. When I was a little girl, bean soup was actually one of the two things I would. not. eat. That and stuffed pork chops. But this is not the plain-Jane navy bean and ham soup of my childhood. This soup is fragrant and flavorful, absolutely mouth-watering. Full of nourishing vegetables, seasoned with garlic and rosemary, garnished with thin ribbons of prosciutto and freshly grated Parmesan, this soup called to my senses from the moment the garlic hit the hot olive oil. As it simmered away, it smelled so good that I could hardly wait for it to achieve thick, creamy perfection.

This is the kind of soup you don’t gulp – you savor it slowly, letting the flavors linger on your tongue. At least, I did. I couldn’t eat it slowly enough.

Tuscan White Bean Soup
adapted from Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

2-3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 small sweet yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
1 fennel bulb, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
3-4 redskin potatoes, diced small
4 cans small white beans in their liquid
2 cups chicken stock
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Prosciutto, sliced into thin ribbons, for garnish
Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

In a 5-quart soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and garlic, and sauté together a minute or two.
Add the carrot, fennel, celery, and potato, and continue to cook, stirring at intervals, until the vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes or so.
Add the stock and the beans with their liquid, along with the rosemary.
Bring to a simmer and reduce heat as needed to maintain a gentle bubbling.
Cook 20-30 minutes, until the broth has thickened and become almost creamy.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve garnished with the prosciutto and Parmesan, with some warm, crusty bread alongside. I picked up a dark wheat baguette from the bakery, and it was heavenly.

Note: if you simply don’t like beans, purée them in a blender or food processor until thick and creamy, then add them to the soup.

For the printable recipe, click here.