Sunday's Soup

• 
  At long last, I'm back with a soup recipe. For the next few weeks I will be trying out some of the recipes that I found on the Panera Bread website. I was so pleased with the Tomato Soup recipe that I posted here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2013/05/sundays-soup_19.html, so I thought I would give some of the other recipes a try as well. The soup that I made today is called
  Tuscan Wheatberry Soup with White Beans and Kale 
  The ingredients; 
  
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  1 large onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup wheatberries
• 1½ cups cooked dried (or rinsed and drained canned) cannellini beans
• 6 ounces kale, thick stems removed and leaves chopped into bite-size pieces (about 6 cups)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan

  DIRECTIONS

Warm the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and bay leaf, cover the pot, and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Stir in the wheatberries, return the broth to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the wheat berries are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Transfer about 3 cups of soup (mostly solids) to a blender and puree until smooth.

Return the puree to the soup pot and add the beans, kale, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the rosemary. Cook until the kale is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar.
Divide the soup among eight bowls and garnish with the cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon of rosemary. 

I did make a few small changes. Rather than the large kale, I used baby kale.

I also added 2 banana peppers to the soup. Other than that, I made the recipe exactly as instructed and the verdict is....it is a wonderful soup, and I will be making it again!

Next week I'll have another, so drop back by.

Rhonda