White bean vegetable broth

During the late spring and summer I am all about salads. During the winter and part of autumn and early spring I am all about soups. This is a kind of warm salad in a soup form. Lots of vegetables in a veggie broth, simple, clean and crisp flavours. Real feel good food, that will leave you feeling really healthy, light and at the same time full. Great for a damp, rainy summers day.

Essentially you can use any veggies you happen to have at hand. I love the large white beans, but you could replace for any other prefer type of bean. You could also leave out the bean entirely if you want a lighter version.

Here are the ingredients I used, serves 4-6:

2 dl large white beans*
1 medium onion
1 medium courgette, chopped into bite size
1 sweet potato, chopped in to bite size
2 celery stalks, sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
6-8 shiitake mushrooms (or any other mushrooms)
1/2 head of broccoli
1/2 chilli, deseeded
1 veggie stock cube
500 ml water
handful of fresh (wild/baby) spinach
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 tbsp coconut oil (unflavoured kind) or other frying friendly oil
salt and pepper, to taste

to serve a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

* I like to soak my beans over night (8hrs) and then cook them in place of using tinned. Somehow I feel this is the healthier path to take but if you don't have the time or same feeling as I do feel free to use tinned.

If you choose to soak and cook your beans, then soak the beans the night or day before. Boil them before adding to the soup, this large white bean takes about 1 hour to cook through, sometimes longer. I like to add a bay leaf for added flavour. 

1. Fry the chopped vegetables (hold the tomatoes, parsley and spinach) in oil of your choice in a soup pan. You want to bring out some of the sweetness and flavour of each veg. I tend to begin frying the harder ingredients like the potato, broccoli, onion and chili. Once they have had 2min frying I will add the softer ingredients. You want each vegetable to have softened slightly without browning. Add more oil if the pan starts to feel dry. 
2. Now add a pinch of salt and some fresh pepper and then crumble in the stock cube and add the water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. 
3. Add the beans and cherry tomatoes. Allow to simmer for 15-25min. Depending on how much bite or softness you want your veggies to have. Taste, add a little more slat or pepper if you like. 
4. Before you portion the soup out place a few leaves of spinach in the bottom of each soup bowl, add the soup and then top with the chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.