White Bean, Escarole and Roasted Garlic Soup

Start with about a couple of quarts of a great vegetable broth.  For this I used a bag of scraps from onion, broccoli stalks, mushrooms and parsley (along with misc other stuff).  I created a broth by covering the veggies with water by about 3" and boiling for about 40 minutes.  I added a small pinch of salt and a spoonful of miso.  Here are instructions for creating your own broth.

INGREDIENTS
4-6 cups vegetable broth
2 heads of garlic, roasted
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 carrot, peeled finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
zest from 1 lemon
2 T sherry or rice wine vinegar
2 cans white beans, well-rinsed (cannoli, northern, etc)
3 cups escarole (kale works well here, too) sliced in 1/2 inch strips (if the leaves are 3-4" across, halve them first)
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t oregano
2 bay leaves
salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

RECIPE
Allow roasted garlic to cool (cut top off bulb to barely expose garlic, sprinkle with olive oil; cook in a 450 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, until skin browned and garlic is soft).

In a stock pot, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, carrot and celery and a small pinch of salt.  When vegetables begin to soften, add tumeric.  Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes until vegetables are slightly browned.  Add bay leaf, oregano. lemon zest, vinegar, and a ladle of broth.

Bring to a simmer.  Grind in black pepper to taste.  Add beans and about about 8 cups of broth  Once boiling, add garlic cloves removed from their paper.  Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.  While at a nice simmer, add your chopped greens. Turn the heat off and let sit for 2-3 minutes before serving.  If you use kale, you can allow the soup to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

This soup is terrific with a salad of butter lettuce with grated carrot and beet, topped with a nice vinaigrette and a bit of avocado.  It is terrific the next day, too.