White Bean & Kale Soup

Kale yeah! This is SOUPer simple and delicious. I recommend taking the time to soak dried cannelini beans (I order mine online) because I find the canned ones of this particular bean are just mush. And that little blast of lemon juice at the end? Absolutely zingy delicious!

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and small-diced
• 1 small yellow onion, small-diced
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
• 1 large or 2 small bunches, kale or Swiss chard, stems removed and rough chopped
• 1 cup dried beans, soaked overnight or 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed
• 6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated

 Instructions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the fennel, onion and thyme, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add the white beans and broth and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer 6 to 8 minutes if using canned beans or 1 to 1.5 hours if using overnight-soaked beans. Check the beans after 1 hour for desired softness. With about 10 minutes to go, add the chopped greens (kale or chard) and stir to combine.
3. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.