This the perfect Meatless Monday recipe. Use your imagination and substitute your favorite beans. Due to the length of time to cook the beans this recipe takes longer than most, but it is worth the effort because it is a delicious and nutritionally dense one-pot meal. Make an extra batch and freeze for those rushed dinner nights.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups dried beans (we used ½ cup each of cannellini, garbanzo, and kidney beans)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced sweet potato
6 cups vegetable broth
1 14 oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp Italian seasoning blend
1 ¼-1 ½ tsp fine grain kosher salt
¼-½ tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups baby spinach or kale
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

Rinse dried beans well. In a large pot, cover beans with water (3 + inches above beans) and add a pinch of salt.
Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let soak for 1.5 hours. Drain and rinse.
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Sauté onion and garlic for 5-6 minutes, or until translucent and slightly softened, stirring frequently.
Add carrots, celery, and sweet potato. Continue cooking for 6-7 minutes.
Add soaked beans, broth, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 40-45 minutes, until the beans are tender.
Stir in kale/spinach and parsley 5 minutes before serving.

Don’t have any dried beans? Substitute with 2 15oz. cans of beans. Drain and rinse well before adding to the soup. If using canned beans, this soup will only need to simmer for 20-25 minutes before serving.