Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Golden Chard, Vegetable and White Bean Soup

OK...here is what I pulled from my garden today:  a large bunch of golden chard, one lovely onion, a few red core chantenay carrots and a few dragon carrots.  Such a beautiful bounty...I'm truly blessed.  Now the fun part, what to do with it!

And to me, the answer was simple:  there is a delicious soup in the making here :)

Now I've made enough soups in my lifetime that I really don't need a recipe.  The key to a good soup is high quality ingredients, homemade chicken stock if you have it, whatever seasoning you like (I like cumin and smoked paprika) and my secret ingredient, a 1/2 inch piece of Parmagianno Regianno cheese rind.

The preparation is really pretty simple and straightforward.

Dice the onion 
 

Scrub the carrots and cut into 1/2 inch moons


Remove the stem and tough rib from the chard

Wash and spin dry

 Slice chard into thin ribbons

Saute the onion and carrot in extra virgin olive oil over medium heat until onion is soft and carrot begins to brown, about 10 minutes.  Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the chard, 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and saute for another 5-7  minutes until the chard begins to wilt.


Add the chicken stock, cheese rind and 1 can of drained, well rinsed Great Northern or cannellini beans and 1/2 cup pearl couscous


Let simmer for about 30 minutes or until couscous is cooked.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Sprinkle with a little grated Pecorino Romano cheese and serve.  Although delicious immediately, this soup is even better served the next day. 


Buon Appetito!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds great to me! I'm an ardent soup fan, and nothing is better in soup than veg from your own garden. Not so sure about the pearl couscous though. Tried it one and was unimpressed. I prefer the "traditional" type (preferably with a Moroccan lamb tagine!).

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  2. Thanks Mark! Nothing beats a soup with from-the-garden-ingredients! And the best thing about soup is that it is so versatile. Moroccan lamb tagine...that sounds yummy!

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  3. I just bought some rainbow chard today at market to use in this recipe. I am excited and it is on the menu this week!

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