East coast Tribe: this one’s for you. If waking up to 40 degree temps this morning didn’t serve as your friendly reminder that the cold weather is coming, consider this first soup recipe of the season a warm gesture on this just-a-little-too-chilly day. The ingredient list is simple (it’s likely you’ll have everything except fresh rosemary on hand), and the cooking process is foolproof. Oh, and the result is a hearty, filling, protein-packed soup to ease you into the fall-to-winter transition (yea, I’m going to pretend I didn’t just say winter, too).

rosemary white bean soup

ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium Vidalia onions, diced
• 3 cloves, garlic minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 branches of rosemary
• 8 cups cooked white cannellini beans (canned or pre-soaked and boiled)
• 1 tsp. salt (if desired, depending on if if your vegetable broth contained salt)
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper or crushed red pepper (optional)

directions:

1. Heat oil to medium low in a large pot, add onions and saute for 10 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and saute over low for another 2 minutes.
2. Add broth, bay leaves, rosemary and beans. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaves and rosemary branches and use an immersion blend to puree into a thick consistency. You’ll want to have some texture from beans that are not entirely pureed, so don’t liquify entirely.
4. Taste and add desired salt and pepper.