Savory Cannellini Bean Soup

Readers of this blog will know by now that I haven’t posted any recipes in over two months. My pregnancy with our third child has been surprisingly complicated, taking up a huge amount of time and energy... and although I’ve found comfort in cooking for my family, I haven’t had much opportunity to blog about our meals. Rather than inventing my own recipes I've been reprising family favorites and turning gratefully to delicious dinner recipes developed by my favorite gluten free bloggers including Karina Allrich and Shauna James Ahern.

Thanks to a happy accident however, today I found myself creating an original "everything but the kitchen sink" recipe for this very tasty vegetarian soup that proved to be a great hit with my husband and children. Inspired by a single 15 oz can of cannellini beans, this savory concoction draws its rich flavor from its spicing which includes fire roasted green chiles, tarragon, rosemary, sage and chicken broth.

I hope this meal will warm the tummies and hearts of your family and friends – and that you will share the same joy in sitting around the table chatting over your steaming bowl of soup that we did tonight.


Savory Cannellini Bean Soup

What You’ll Need:

3 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
3 celery ribs (including leaves) sliced very thinly
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
½ cup short grain brown rice
4 oz fire roasted green chiles
15 oz cannellini beans
8 oz crimini mushrooms, washed and quartered
½ cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 sprig fresh tarragon, minced
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sage
Olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper (additional) to taste

Optional: 1 large handful of steamed asparagus, chopped into ½ inch pieces


How It Works:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 3 quart pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sliced carrots and celery, dust them with salt and pepper according to your taste, and sauté covered (stirring frequently) for 8-10 minutes until the celery has softened. Add minced garlic and stir continuously for 30 seconds until garlic is fragrant but not yet golden. Add chiles and mix them well into your veggie medley. Pour in the uncooked short grain brown rice, and stir it into the mix until all grains of rice are well coated with the oil and chile juices. Allow the rice to warm, approximately 1-2 minutes. Keep stirring.

Next, pour in all chicken broth, water and wine. Add Bay leaf, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper and bring entire contents of pot to a boil. Skim froth off of top of the liquid. Reduce heat and simmer mostly covered for 20 minutes. When timer rings, add quartered mushrooms, cannellini beans, tarragon, sage and rosemary (plus optional steamed asparagus if you’ve chosen to add it). Combine these new ingredients well into your broth and set the timer for 30 additional minutes. Allow your soup to simmer covered, making sure that it does not boil. Stir occasionally. The soup will be ready to eat after 50 minutes total cooking time, but feel free to allow it to simmer over low heat as long as you like.

Serve generous portions of this hearty soup next to a fresh side salad. Especially great with hot buttered Kinnikinnick gluten-free dinner rolls!

Serves 6.

Spicy Black Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage

The ingredient which really makes this soup is definitely its chili powder, especially when coupled with the relatively cooler flavors of fresh cilantro, cumin, garlic and oregano. Andouille sausage and fresh basil from our kitchen garden also added something special.

Still, the memorable difference between this spicy, satisfying soup and other more run-of-the-mill black bean soups is definitely its kick! From the first taste you will feel warmth begin to emanate throughout your body. While the spicing isn’t hot enough to bring tears to your eyes, it is definitely vibrant enough to put a genuine smile on your face.

To make sure that each of your guests enjoys the perfect amount of seasoning to match their individual preference, serve this black bean soup with a topping of sliced avocado, sharp cheddar cheese and/or sour cream. This works well either added directly to individual portions or (more casually) passed around the dinner table. Sour cream will often entice timid souls who are wary of hot foods - enhancing their enjoyment without diminishing the zesty essence of your delicious dinner.



Spicy Black Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage


What You’ll Need:

Olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tsp fresh basil, minced
1 tsp oregano
2 cans black beans (15 oz each)
3 tsp chicken bouillon ( = 3 cubes)
3 cups water
2 stalks celery, minced
12 ounces gluten free Andouille sausage (Wellshire Farms)
3 large fresh tomatoes ( = 2 cups chopped)
½ lime (juice only)
2 tbsp tomato paste
Grated sharp cheddar cheese
Thinly sliced avocado
Organic sour cream
Sea salt (to taste)
Fresh ground pepper (to taste)

How It Works:

Pour approx 2 tbsp olive oil in bottom of a stainless steel 3 quart pot, heat at medium temp. Add chopped onions, stir occasionally. Cook until translucent (a few minutes). Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, black pepper, cilantro and basil and sauté until garlic and herbs are fragrant – somewhere between 90 seconds and 2 minutes. Add chicken bouillon, water and black beans and cook partially covered between 15 and 20 minutes.


Slice Andouille sausage thinly and sauté in a separate pan with olive oil and minced celery. Add sausage, celery, lime juice, salt and pepper to the black bean mixture and turn down heat to low. Simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes or so.

After you ladle your soup into bowls, top with the aforementioned avocado, tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Serves 6. We enjoyed golden brown polenta on the side.

Italian Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup

You would think with all of this hot summer weather that my family would be craving chilled things like cold soups and homemade ice cream. Perhaps we will feel that way next week, but today when planning our grocery list my husband and I were excited about Italian sausage and beans. We feasted tonight on this hearty soup and I can honestly say that the dinner tasted just as delicious and fulfilling in July as we expect it will in November! For perfection, serve it with your favorite salad and gluten free dinner rolls.

Just one note - thanks to the parmesan rind, pancetta, chicken bouillion and Italian sausage involved there is definitely a risk of over salting this soup... so I wouldn't recommend adding any additional salt! We're pretty crazy for fresh onions and garlic here, so I may even try adding more in the future. The kale was a great touch, as were the crimini mushrooms. Enjoy!


Italian Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup

What You'll Need:

Organic Navy beans, 2 cans
Italian Sausage, 1 lb (Sweet or Hot, depending on how you like it)
Pancetta, thinly sliced - 3 pieces
Carrots, 3 - thinly sliced
Onion, 1 medium - minced
Garlic, 6 cloves - minced
Parmesan rind (Take the rind of 4oz parmesan and use only half of it)
White wine, 1/2 cup
Kale, 3 handfuls leaves - stems removed
Rosemary, 1 tsp
Sage, 1 tsp
Bay leaf (1) - optional
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1/4 tsp salt
Crimini mushrooms, 1 large handful - chopped
Crushed tomatoes, 28 ounces
Olive Oil
Chicken bouillion (3 - 4 cups)
3 - 5 tbsp water


How It Works:

Pour the tablespoons of water into deep soup pot (9.5 x 6.5) and turn heat to medium high. Trim ends off of your Italian sausages and place them in the water. Puncture the sausages with the tip of a sharp knife about once every inch or so to allow steam to escape as they boil. (I learned this technique from Alex Haas' Low Carb Cooking, and it works really well!)

Cover pot and boil sausages in the water. When the liquid has evaporated, the sausages will begin to brown. Turn them over so that both sides brown evenly. Remove links from pot and set aside, but leave residual fats in pot.


Next, cook pancetta in the remaining sausage fats - making sure not to let burn. (Another option is to cook it in the microwave.) Remove crispy pancetta and place it with sausage links. Deglaze your pot with white wine, then add minced garlic, onions and thinly sliced carrots and cook on medium low heat until onions are clear. Sautee the crimini mushrooms in a seperate pan and set aside.

Slice sausage links into thick rounds. Return them to pot, along with the vegetables, sauteed mushrooms, pancetta, chicken bouillion, crushed tomatoes, one can of Navy beans, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, bay leaf and one small parmesan rind. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer partially covered between 90 minutes and 2 hours. For best results, simmer at extremely low temperature for several hours!


When you are about 15 - 20 minutes away from serving, add the three large handfuls of kale torn by hand into bite sized pieces, and stir them into your soup. Make sure you are using only kale leaves and not the actual stems. Do not add the kale too early or it will end up very soggy and lose some of its texture. At this time you should add in the 2nd can of Navy beans.

In general the longer you simmer the soup, the fuller its flavoring will be. Remove parmesan rind and bay leaf before serving.


Serves 6 - 8. Cheese lovers may choose to top their bowl with a cloud of grated parmesan.