White Bean and Kale Stew

This is a DELICIOUS, quick, and very simple stew that I found on the whole living website and modified a bit to accommodate our preferences (and what I had in the fridge). You can basically add anything you want to it, you can make it more or less spicy as you desire (I spiced it up quite a bit because my husband and I both have head colds and I thought it'd be good for us), and every single ingredient is healthy and nutritious. It's a vegetarian dish that even my husband, the meat lover, ate 2 huge bowls of (after sweetly suggesting that one time, we try it with sausage :))!  Make extra for delectable leftovers!

White Bean and Kale Stew

serves 2-3

The night before:

Put about 1/2 lb white beans to soak in bowl with plenty of water.

To cook beans (an hour or so before making soup):

Pour pre-soaked beans in saucepan and cover with water. Boil/simmer until cooked/soft, about an hour. Drain and set aside.

To make soup:

knob of coconut oil (google says that's about a walnut size up to 2 tbsp)

2 medium onions (I used extra)

sea salt

chili flakes

5 bay leaves

1 tsp smoked paprika (DON'T leave this out! It's what makes this soup so amazing!)

1 tomato, chopped into large chunks

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (the original recipe didn't call for this, but I wanted extra spice)

6 cloves garlic, sliced (I used extra)

2 C vegetable broth

2 1/2 C cooked white beans

2 C packed shredded kale leaves

sea salt and black pepper to taste

olive oil for garnish

1. Heat coconut oil in large stockpot.

2. Slice onions and add to pot with a couple pinches of sea salt, a pinch of chili flakes, the bay leaves, and the smoked paprika. Stir and cook until onions have softened; a few minutes.

3. Add tomato, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook for an additional few minutes, until all vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally.

4. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

5. Add cooked beans and season to taste with a little more sea salt and black pepper.

6. Add kale leaves, stir in, and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. For best results, do not add kale until you know you're ready to serve in 5-10 minutes.

7. Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil on top (I forgot to add the olive oil and it still tasted great).

Next time, I hope to use homemade vegetable broth! Remember to save the stems, ends, scraps, etc. of all veggies in a ziploc bag in the freezer if you want to try making your own vegetable broth.

Serve with bread and butter. Enjoy!!!