Look at those plump, tender little white beans.

A few hours ago, they looked like this.

Magic, right?

If you’ve got a few hours to spare (maybe this coming weekend), I highly, highly suggest, you put up a pot of this wonderfully comforting and nourishing Hearty Bean Soup. I guarantee it’ll take away some of this late October chill!

I don’t have a real bean soup on the site. Sure, I have soups with some beans in them but that’s because I opened up a can—not that I’m knocking the already prepped canned beans but I have yet to be brave enough and make an honest-to-goodness, soak-in-the-pot-from-scratch bean soup. I’ve always been kinda intimidated by cooking with dried beans, but turns out it’s super easy.

Quick, no?

But low on effort? Yup!!

And how about extremely flavorful with a truly terrific texture? Yup and yup again!

After you’ve soaked the beans for the first hour and rinsed them, you cook them with more water or broth or a combo and prep your veggies. Here I used carrots, potatoes, celery and onions but this is old style home cooking, no real rules apply here so just use whatever you have on hand or prefer.

After a quick sauté, the veggies go into the pot with the beans and the liquid to finish cooking—

And what you wind up with is a nourishing, cold-weather bowl that’s like a big warm hug! And you can top it with some freshly grated Parmesan for even more love!

Serve it with a salad and some crusty bread and dinner is done!

And it makes a big pot so you’re likely to have leftovers which makes lunch the next day so much happier! I have a feeling that once you taste a bite of this, you’re going to be making it all winter long. I know I am!

Hearty Bean Soup

Makes at least 10 servings

Prep Time: Several hours but much of this is hands-free.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried white beans

• 3 quarts water or stock (you can use all water or all stock or a combo, I used 2 quarts chicken stock, 1 quart water)

• 1 bay leaf

• 5 red or white medium potatoes

• 4 large carrots

• 4 celery stalks

• 2 large onions

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 6 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 teaspoons salt

• Freshly grated Parmesan for serving (optional)

The Recipe

1. Place the dry beans in a colander and rinse them with water several times until the water runs clear. Place them in a large heavyweight pot, cover with a few inches of water and bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Skim off any foam and discard. Remove the pot from the heat and let sit for 1 hour.

2. Pour the beans and liquid into the colander and rinse them with fresh cold water. Return them to the pot and add the 3 quarts of water/stock. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the top. Lower the heat and add the bay leaf. Partially cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. Cut the potatoes, carrots, celery into bite-sized pieces and dice the onions. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Cook the veggies for about 10 minutes, until starting to soften, stirring them often. Add the garlic and salt and cook for another few minutes, stirring now and then.

4. When the beans have cooked for the 30 minutes, add the veggie mixture to the pot and let simmer for at least another 30 minutes, until the beans are soft and veggies are entirely tender. Serve as is or topped with the Parmesan.

5. Soup reheats well (duh) and can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from The Art of Home Cooking by Kate McDermott. I fiddled around a lot with this, cut some of the spices, used more veggies—this is very versatile, so feel free to make it your own.