Butternut Squash Soup with Kale and White Beans

They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, but it's March 30 and still in the 30s and 40s in New York City...with an April Fool's rain/snow storm on its way. I am trying to look on the bright side because cooler weather is also soup weather. As I've said in the past, once the thermometer hits 70, I rarely turn on the oven or stove. So I've been stockpiling treats in my freezer, from slow oven-roasted campari tomatoes to individual servings of soups of all kinds. At last count, I've crammed 10 containers of soup into the freezer at work, and at least a third are butternut squash with white beans and kale.

I was a little late to the "cook beans from scratch" party, having assumed canned beans were just as good. But then I plunked down $9 for a bag of Rancho Gordo cannellini beans (after finding them at the Blue Hill Cafe). These are like the filet mignon of white beans, as meaty as a bean can be.

The heirloom beans add a nice texture to the smooth butternut squash puree and chewy kale, making the soup a filling lunch any time of year.

Butternut Squash Soup with White Beans and Kale

Ingredients

1 T. Olive oil 2 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Medium onion, roughly chopped

2 Carrots, roughly chopped

2 Celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 Quart Chicken broth (or, if you cook your beans from scratch, try using the bean broth)

1 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped (about four cups)

1 Head of kale, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces

14 oz. Cannellini beans, cooked or canned, drained

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

Method

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

Add onions and cook for one minute before adding garlic and cooking for an extra two minutes.

Add carrot and celery and saute for five minutes.

Add broth and bring to boil before adding squash.

Cook until squash is tender (about 10 minutes); remove from stove and puree with immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender.

Return puree to stove and bring back to low boil; add kale and cook until tender (about eight minutes).

Add white beans, salt and pepper and cover, turning off stove.

Let stand for 10 minutes before eating.

Crispy Kale on Thanksgiving

Well, I finally made kale chips. I had a bunch of Tuscan kale that was starting to look forlorn, and I figured it was use it or lose it. I tried making the chips once before, but they steamed versus crisped in the oven (or stuck to the tinfoil I lined the baking sheet with). This time, I followed the method recommended by none other than Dan Barber (as published in Bon Appétit). I did decide to jazz it up by using a combination of wasabi and sesame oil instead of olive oil and a sprinkle of soy instead of salt. This time, I lined the pans with parchment and the smaller leaves came out perfect. The larger ones started to burn a bit, and the stems never cooked through, making eating the final product difficult (unless you like chewing and chewing and chewing with green bits of the leaves stuck to your face). The taste of crisped kale was oddly addicting at first, but then, after a few leaves, kind of sickening -- even after I sprinkled a bit of sugar on the crisps to counteract some of the bitterness. In fact, my family nibbled on a few leaves (more as a dare than anything, I think), but we ended up tossing most of the crisps. What a waste of kale. In the future, I think I will reserve kale for soup, and leave the chips to the potatoes!