Kale, White Bean, and Savoy Cabbage Soup

I serve this soup with toasted country bread that's been rubbed with garlic cloves and sprinkled with fresh Parmesan cheese. The bread lies on top of the soup à la French onion soup, but it isn't broiled. Savoy cabbage is easily identified by its wrinkled leaves.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup soup, 1 toast slice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese)

Ingredients

• Soup:
• 1/2  cup  dried cannellini beans or other white beans
• 6  cups  water
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  salt, divided
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 3 1/2  cups  diced baking potato (about 1 pound)
• 1 1/2  cups  diced onion
• 1 1/2  cups  thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)
• 8  cups  thinly sliced kale (about 1 bunch)
• 4  cups  chopped Savoy cabbage (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  large garlic clove, minced
• 
  Garlic toast:
• 8  (3/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut Italian bread (about 12 ounces)
• 1  garlic clove, halved
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

To prepare the soup, sort and wash the beans, and place in a large Dutch oven. Cover the beans with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain beans. Return beans to pan; cover with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt; simmer 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add potato, onion, and leek, and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt, kale, cabbage, chopped parsley, pepper, and minced garlic. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 30 minutes. Add bean mixture; cook 30 minutes.

Prepare broiler.

To prepare garlic toast, place bread slices in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Broil for 2 minutes on each side or until toasted. Rub the toast with garlic halves. Ladle the soup into bowls; top with garlic toast, and sprinkle with cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

316 (11% from fat)

Fat:

3.7g (sat 1g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.6g)

Protein:

12.8g

Carbohydrate:

60.2g

Fiber:

5.6g

Cholesterol:

3mg

Iron:

4.6mg

Sodium:

797mg

Calcium:

198mg