White Bean Soup with Gremolata: Easy, Beany Goodness for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It was the gremolata that pulled me into this recipe. I love the bright and zesty flavor this combination of parsley, garlic and lemon rind gives to food and thought it would be perfect to add flavor to a simple bean soup.

This White Bean Soup with Gremolata recipe comes from Cooking Light via myrecipes.com and goes together quickly and simply. I made a few changes (in red below) and omitted the pancetta and chicken stock to make it a veg-friendly soup. 

 
White Bean Soup with Gremolata
Adapted from MyRecipes.com: Cooking Light--Nov. 2009
(Serves 2-4)

Soup:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped pancetta (omitted & added 1/2 tsp smoked paprika)
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
(1/2 cup carrot, chopped)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 cups less-sodium chicken or veggie broth (I used 1 quart Imagine Not-Chicken Stock)
1/2 cup water (omitted)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 (19-oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (I used 3 14-oz cans)
1 bay leaf
 
Gremolata:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon minced garlic

To prepare soup, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, and 2 teaspoons garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until almost tender. Stir in broth and next 4 ingredients (through bay leaf). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To prepare gremolata, combine parsley, rind, and 1 teaspoon garlic. Sprinkle over soup.

Notes/Results: The soup is good on its own, with the gremolata it is even better--so I recommend doubling the gremolata recipe. I added extra beans and doubled the broth--without doing that this recipe would yield about 2 servings. If you eat meat, the pancetta would be a nice touch. I replaced it with some smoked paprika and didn't really miss it. Easy to make, satisfying and with good flavor, I would make this again.

We have soups and stews and a couple of salads waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen, let's take a look. 

Tigerfish from Teczcape-An Escape to Food is here with Roasted Garlic Black Bean Stew and says, "It was supposed to be only part of the roasted garlic going into this dish but in the end, it's an entire whole bulb of garlic (about 6-8 cloves) into this Roasted Whole-Garlic Black Bean Stew. Garlic-ky!!! Black beans is a great way to up the intake of fiber and protein; also relatively nutritious among beans/legumes especially when it is rich in potassium and iron (folate)."

Janet of The Taste Space made this chunky Moroccan Chana Dal Stew with Green Olives and Preserved Lemons and says, "I liked the creamy nature of the chana dal as a back drop for the stew along with cinnamon and cumin. The buttercup squash was sweet and complemented the grassiness of the green beans (yes, my plants were very prolific this year). For further depth, green Cerignola olives and preserved lemon make this an exotic twist of flavours."

Torwen of Torwen's Blog is back with a creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and says, "Today was kind of a strange day. We are living in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg (now can you pronounce this one *grin*), in a part that borders to another state of Germany. And today I had a holiday and M, who works only 20 km away (but in Hesse) had to go to work. No holiday and no free time for him. Bad for him but good for me :) So I used my time to tend to my slipped disc (basically meaning, I slept long), made a brownie cake for M's birthday and also this wonderfully rich and smoky butternut squash soup which I will gladly share with you, since, although it might look like an ordinary squash soup, is far from it."

Pam of Sidewalk Shoes adapted Dorie Greenspan's Garbure from the Supermarket for the slow cooker and says, "As someone who makes soup practically every single Sunday from October to April, I have eaten a lot of soups, and I have to say that this is in my top 10.  It was wonderful.  It is totally loaded with vegetable and pork goodness.  I used a meaty ham bone and unfortunately didn’t have the optional duck leg and garlic sausage – which probably would have been utterly amazing.  Also, I skipped the turnips because I don’t like them! But even without the optional ingredients – this was fabulous!"

Dave of Inspired By eRecipeCards is here again this week with two soups. The first is this decadent, cheesy stew-like Enchilada Soup. He says, "Much as I try, sometimes I just can't stop myself...This started out as a copy cat recipe and I had every intentions of following the recipe through as written.  If you have never tried the delicious creamy, cheesy, Tex-Mex delight of the Enchilada Soup from Chili's restaurant, you are missing something special. ... Long story short (too late), the creamy delicious ACCURATE Chili's Copy Cat Recipe that Lindsey posted sounded perfect.  But I thought about it and decided I could do a bit better (well, different anyway).  My soup came out much thicker and more of and Enchilada Stew than a soup."

Dave's second soup is this Rotisserie Chicken Corn Chowder about which he says, "Chowders also are traditionally served with those little oyster crackers.  Long time readers will smile when I say, "Who am I to argue with tradition", but in this case.  They go great with chowder! Love this, thick and rich from the Half and Half; a hint of spice from a minced jalapeno, to make up for the cream, loaded with vegetables and plenty of cheese to make it good and hearty! What's not to love."

My pal Stephanie, The Happy Sorceress of Dispensing Happiness is here with this "ridiculously easy and full of flavor" Cambodian Chicken and Rice Soup and says, "I like the cooler temperatures a lot more than Matt. My feeling is that you can  add more layers to get warm, but when it's hot you can only take off so much to get cool! There's another, and more recent, reason I like this time of the year: Matt's more willing to eat soup. (This is called a 'win-win'.) Give it some Asian flavors and he might even have seconds."

Joanne of Eats Well With Others is facing the storm aftermath with this healthy and hearty Broccoli and Cauliflower Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Goat Cheese and says, "The one thing I do have? This quinoa salad. And...it's awesome. Stuffed full of roasted cauliflower, a creamy broccoli pesto, almonds, avocado and goat cheese, it'll fill you with a sense of calm during these crazy times so that all you'll be able to focus on is how happy your taste buds are.  Amidst all of this insanity and utter uncertainty...it is logical, rational and/or reasonable.  And sometimes...that's exactly what you need."  

Finally Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog brings a colorful Shaved Carrot Ribbons and Cranberry Salad. She says, "Two simple vegetables, the carrot and the cranberry ( a berry) create a fabulous fall salad! Low calories, yet in high fiber and nutrition, carrots have a rich orange color that is especially appealing in the fall and add a subtle  sweetness to so many recipes. My creation was absolutely delicious, simple, raw and vegan. I made the salad for "one" and ate it as my lunch,  You can double or triple it for a side dish with dinner." 

A wonderful variety of dishes this week--thanks to everyone who joined in. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo for all of the details. 

Have a happy, healthy week!