A Recipe for Magical Fruit

In honor of my siblings, who love to laugh (about farting):

Beans, Beans,
The Magical Fruit.
The more you eat,
the more you toot.
The more you toot,
the better you feel,
so let's have Beans
for every meal!

I am currently in a mega soup-jag. Making soup is so wonderful - flexible, delicious, served warm, and easy to store & re-heat. It doesn't get much better than that! I get into trouble when I have to follow a recipe to a 'T', so making soup suits my bad habits. The sub-category of my soup-jag is BEAN SOUPS. I'm really crazy about them! My favorite one is in the pot cooking right now: White Bean with Vegetables, Garlic, & Rosemary. The best thing is that gets better with age; so don't eat it the first day. Let it cool and put it in the refrigerator for tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that. This recipe is straight from my favorite book: Souped Up!

Cook's Note: Instead of using yucky canned beans, use dried beans. The best method I've found is to quick-cook them - this involves covering the beans in a pot with at least 2 inches of cold water, then bringing it to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Drain, rinse, then let it sit until you're ready to use them. Always drain the water (along with the magical stuff that makes you toot), rinse, then put them in the soup to cook fully.

White Bean with Vegetables, Garlic, & Rosemary

• 1 pound (2 1/2 cups) white beans (cannellini or northern), quick cooked and drained
• 2 to 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced (I use 6)
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 carrots, quartered lengthwise and sliced
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary (or 2 TBSP chopped fresh)
• 16 cups chicken stock (or water)
• 1 16-ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 TBSP lemon juice or red wine vinegar
• Kosher salt

Place the beans, garlic, onion, celery, carrots, potato, rosemary, and stock in heavy-bottomed stockpot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low and cook, partially covered, until the beans have fallen apart, about 2 hours.

Add the tomatoes and continue to cook until the soup begins to thicken, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to container, cover, and refrigerate at least overnight, and up to 2 days.

Place in a pot, add the parsley, and gently reheat. Add the lemon juice, and garnish with fresh rosemary. Add salt to taste.