White bean and cabbage soup

About soup, Miss Manners writes:

Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give you hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in winter and cools you in summer? Yet who is also capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests?

Naturally, then she goes on to tell you about the horrors perpetrated upon soup by the unmannerly and inconsiderate, because that is her job.

Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. But soup knows the difference. Soup is sensitive. You don't catch steak hanging around when you're poor or sick, do you? Soup deserves to be treated well.... If you knew how often people do dreadful things to soup, kind, caring soup, you would weep. And even as the tears rolled from your cheeks, your faithful soup would expand in response.

Go forth and simultaneously appreciate soup and make further use of the equally faithful cabbage with this vaguely Frenchy recipe:

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c dried white beans, cooked until tender in lightly salted water to cover, along with a few bay leaves

1 or 2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
About 1 teaspoon rosemary
1 bunch scallions or one leek, whites and a couple inches of greens, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 carrots, sliced into rounds or half-rounds
1 red pepper (if available, otherwise substitute an additional carrot), diced
2 fennel roots, chopped
1 small or 1/2 large green cabbage, halved or quartered and sliced thickly
4 cups broth or salted water

(I also put in an ice cube of frozen pureed basil from this summer at the end, but it was good before I did that, too.)

TO DO
1. Prepare the beans. Do not drain them.

2. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of your soup pot over a medium flame. Add the onions and saute until transluscent. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook about a minute more.

3. Add all the other vegetables and stir to coat. Cook about one minute and then add the broth or water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and cover. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Add beans and cook, uncovered, another 10 minutes. Taste for salt.

Posted by redfox at March 03, 2005 11:03 AM (recipes) | Comments (1)

Comments

I never tried fennel before. But this soup is so delicious and different! I made it with some chicken broth. It's going to be one of my favorites. Thank you.

Posted by Jessi at April 30, 2005 10:50 PM

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