As I said, summer is definitely over and winter is getting ready. Can soup be far behind? This is a great recipe from Sunset Magazine for a hearty bean-based vegetable soup. I used chicken broth but if you are a vegetarian you can substitute vegetable broth. In any case, I recommend using reduced sodium broth rather than the regular broth and seasoning to taste. If you use regular broth, make sure you taste first as you will probably not need to salt the soup.

Makes 5 servings.

Ingredients

½ bunch Swiss or red chard
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, quartered and chopped
1 can (approx. 15 oz. or 425 grams) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup water
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into ¼ inch pieces
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
1 can (approx. 15 oz. or 425 grams) chikpeas / garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth

Recipe

1. Cut chard leaves away from the stems. Finely chop the stems and chiffonade the leaves. Set both aside separately.
2. Puree half of the cannellini beans with water in a food processor.
3. Briefly cook olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat until fragrant but not browned (less than a minute).
4. Add carrots, zucchini, chard stems and salt. Cook while stirring for five minutes (until chard stems are tender).
5. Add white wine and cook another 2 minutes so the vegetables can absorb the flavor of the wine.
6. Add chard leaves, remaining cannellini beans, tomatoes, cannellini bean puree, chickpeas and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are tender and the soup has some body (about 15 minutes).