White Bean Consomme

And so my revamped and reintroduced food blog has finally begun.  Tonight, I made a white bean consomme for dinner. (Recipe thanks to Self Magazine.) 

 

White Bean Consomme

You Will Need 

2 (15oz) cans of cannellini beans

2 cups of almond milk

2 garlic cloves (are we sensing a trend here?)

1 cup of water

Herbs of your choosing

That’s everything in the soup! I love fresh and easy recipes, and the idea of using almond milk in a soup?  I had to try it. 

And…

So I began… I simmered the ingredients for ten minutes, then fished out the garlic cloves (as per the recipe) and pureed half of the soup before remixing it all together, adding salt, pepper, rosemary and chives.  I let it sit on the stove for a few more minutes, and then it was ready. 

Definitely one of the easier soups I’ve made.  I made myself a bowl, and sat down at my table, fully ready for this amazing soup. I took a bite, and the texture was absolutely wonderful – rich and creamy.  Perfect for dipping a slice of crusty bread right in. But then,   I was disappointed.  It was <i>way</i> bland.    Fishing out the garlic cloves was the worst thing I could have done.  In fact, next time I will probably double the garlic quotient.  (I am a serious garlic fiend.)  I also added some crushed red pepper flakes to give it a little bit of zing.  

All in all, this is definitely a recipe I will be making again. I will just be making several changes.  The base soup is amazing,it just needs a little tweaking before it’s ready to serve to guests (or Luke for that matter!)  With it’s denseness, it could definitely stand up to a lot of the flavors I could throw in there.  The almond milk and cannellini beans create a wonderful foundation to build flavors into it.  But, as is, it’s vegetarian, high protein and really inexpensive to make (yes, even with the almond milk). 

 

(Other Options for It)

– blend the garlic right into the soup (do not be afraid of the garlic)

– try changing up the spices.  Use basil or oregano. 

– a squeeze of lemon juice would add a lot of brightness to the soup, and would be a great surprise for guests.

– a dollop of pesto right on top would also make a tasty addition (and a lovely presentation!)