Remember when I was super excited to go to the Cinco de Mayo party my friend, Rachel, was having on Saturday?

Remember when I was just thinking it was an excuse to drink excessive amounts of margaritas and an unhealthy amount of guac, aka mashed up avocado, aka my favorite things ever?

Well…that didn’t happen. I’m starting to feel like if I post something on here that is suppose to happen, it won’t.

Instead, I woke up Saturday with an ear infection, on top of the no-voice situation I’d been rocking since Thursday. So, instead of yummy party food and booze, I made soup. Bor-ing.

It should also be noted that it wasn’t particularly warm this weekend and we are looking at a week of rain so this soup is perfect for New England. I understand it’s warmer elsewhere so don’t think I’m weird for posting soup in May.

Red Bean, Potato and Kale Soup
roughly based off of Red Chard,Potato and White Bean Ragout 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), sliced
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about two or three potatoes)
• 3 cups vegetable, 3 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup- 1 cup frozen kale (I used 365 frozen blue curly kale. It’s great! or you can use about a pound of fresh)*
• 1 can red beans
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 to 2 TBS chopped parsley (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a big soup pot over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the potatoes and stir together. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water, a bay leave, nutritional  yeast and thyme leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Salt to taste.

2. Add the kale, beans and another 1 cup of broth and 1 cup of water to the pot**, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The kale should be very tender. Stir in freshly ground pepper to taste and the parsley. Taste, adjust seasonings and serve.

* If you are using fresh kale, remove the leaves from the stem. Saute the stems in with the onions in the first step and then wait to add the kale leaves until step 2.

**When I’m sick, I like my soup broth-y. I feel like the healing properties are in the broth, not the actual food. So, I added more broth/water since it had cooked down significantly. If you like less broth, feel free to leave out the additional 2 cups of liquid at the end but keep a close eye on your red beans. You’ll most likely only have to cook them for 5-10 minutes until they are hot. You don’t want to over cook them or they will burst and make your soup sort of gritty. Trust me…I know…

yummm…this soup was just what the vegan doctor ordered. I curled up with it in my oversized North Conway mug and read for a good portion of the weekend. It also gave me enough energy to clean my room between naps! You should see it…it’s so clean!! Clearly, I should get sick more often if it means time to clean. Who knew?