A Serious Soup

I’m afraid to say it out loud.

Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat. And the sniffles. It pains me to admit this, but I think a cold is coming on. The temperature has dropped. It may even be time for gloves. David and I stepped outside the apartment this morning and both exclaimed “Ohhh” in that same sort of high pitched voice that can only signify a drastic change in the weather. On the subway, I’ve seen one too many people sneezing.

The situation calls for a serious soup.

When I was little, my brothers and I secretly loved being sick. At the first sign of a fever, our mom called the school, tucked us back into bed and set about making chicken soup. For lunch, a bowl of steaming soup and a glass of orange juice was brought to us in bed on a hideous red plastic structure that we lovingly referred to as the sick tray (my parents still have it). A cold was our only excuse to skip a meal at the table, and the three of us quietly rejoiced in being bundled under the covers watching cartoons while mom tended to us. If only sick days were still like that. There’s really nothing better than being taken care of, and no matter how old I get, I don’t think there’s anything my parents can’t make all right. I feel the same way about soup. It’s the first thing I turn to at the hint of a cold, and the one sick-day tradition I continue to embrace (besides being cranky). It’s sort of impossible not to feel better after a bowl of soup. Its curative powers are endless.

Yesterday, before coffee and without being fully awake, I turned to the soup section of my Gourmet Cookbook (yes, I use this book all the time – that’s because it is truly the only cookbook one could ever need). This recipe for Kale and White Bean soup was exactly what I needed: it's hearty and full of stuff that's good for you - like kale. Now, I’ve had some problems with kale in the past. It’s not a vegetable I normally turn to. It’s bitter if you don’t sautee or steam it, and really, who wants to sautee or steam something that looks like lettuce but doesn’t taste as good? It has to be said, though, that kale is a superfood – loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C, it’s as good as warding off a virus better than any medicine I can think of. Plus, it’s something green that is also in season in the winter. That’s pretty super, too, if you ask me. The kale takes on a rich, meaty flavor in this soup, brought about by onions and garlic. I dare say, I may be a kale convert - as long as I have a soup recipe that pairs it with Parmesan cheese. A rind of Parmesan cheese is the standout ingredient in this soup. It disperses strands of sharp flavor throughout the broth.

A couple notes: the original recipe calls for draining the beans for eight hours. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have eight hours to watch a bunch of beans drain. To do this quickly, place the beans in a saucepan with two inches of water. Bring water to a boil for two minutes, remove from heat and leave uncovered for one hour, then drain and rinse. This may result in simmering the beans in your broth for a longer period of time (as I experienced), but it is a surefire way to get them soup-ready in a hurry.

Also, I did not have the requisite five cups of chicken stock. I had four (most store-bought cartons of stock hold four cups, and I didn’t want to buy an extra one). My aunt, the professional cook responsible for this uses water when she’s short on stock. If it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me. I substituted one cup of water for the missing cup of chicken stock, and the soup is still extremely flavorful. And of course, vegetable stock can be used in place of chicken stock.

Kale + White Bean Soup
Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

Ingredients
1 lb dried white beans. I prefer cannellini.
2 medium Spanish onions, coarsely chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 c low-sodium chicken broth
8 c water
1 (3 x 2-inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (make sure there’s a little bit of cheese still attached to it.
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
8 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
1 lb kale, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves roughly chopped.

Prepare beans as indicated above and set aside. Heat oil in an 8-quart soup pot over moderately low heat. Add onions to oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add beans, broth, 4 c water, cheese rind, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and rosemary. Simmer, uncovered, until beans are just tender, 50 minutes or up to an hour and 10 minutes. Stir carrots into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in kale, and remaining 4 c of water and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

Note: This soup tastes best made 1 or 2 days ahead.