Cannellini Bean Soup

If you are trying to increase the amount of health-boosting beans to your diet, and looking for some warming, appealing recipes for fall and winter that offer easy ways to do this, try this soup.  This is a good substitute for comforting potato soup, minus the insulin effects that potatoes have on your system (did you know that eating a potato causes more drastic insulin swings than eating pure table sugar?).

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups cooked cannellini beans (can be canned), thoroughly rinsed and drained
• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1-2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar (or dry white wine)
• sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• In large pot, saute chopped onion and celery in a little bit of olive oil for about 10 minutes
• Add garlic, continue to saute for another 3 minutes
• Add beans, shredded carrots and the remainder of ingredients.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour
• For a creamier texture, slightly puree some (or all) of the soup with a hand blender (can be used in the soup pot), or by blending a ladle or two of the soup in a standard blender and returning to the pot
• Options:  top with some chopped raw or left-over steamed greens, parmesan cheese or croutons