Sup: White Bean and Turkey Soup with Pozole and Kale

Full of lean protein, fiber and FLAVOR (key component)! I used black eyed peas and cannellini beans in this variation – feel free to experiment with others.

This started as a lazy-meal-in-a-pot. Inspired by the thought of a Tuscan-style white bean soup and some ‘not-gettin’-any-fresher’ fresh rosemary in my fridge, I built this up from the base of sautéed onions, adding things in my pantry that just seemed inevitable. Little did I know I was building a cousin to the Tuscan classic Ribollita, a fact I would learn only after a glorious trip to Florence where that hearty Tuscan stew virtually brought us back to life. (story and Ribollita recipe here!)

Sŭp (that’s how we say it at our house, with the completely casual vowel sound from ‘foot’) immediately became a hit with Orville and me – delicious, simple, and pretty darned healthy. In fact we call it our P90X Sŭp!

This is my ‘After’ photo after doing the P90X workouts. They actually hired me to model for them. I’m right behind the shirtless guy.

Plus it’s great for lunch all week and freezes well, too. It’s evolved over the years, but this is my classic version with a few variations. Notice that I season each step lightly with salt and pepper throughout the preparation. It’s essential to season the layers as they are added, but you don’t want the final dish to be over-seasoned. By “season lightly”, I mean a simple, small three-finger pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of the pepper mill.

Download this recipe!

Sŭp: White Bean and Turkey Soup with Pozole and Kale

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6-8 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or sweet Italian turkey sausage – yummy variation!)
1 med-to-large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced, or use your garlic press
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
15 ounce can chick peas, drained (I sometimes use black eyed peas instead – feel free to experiment)
15 ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained
15 ounce can white hominy (pozole), drained
2 4-5 inch sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme (you can substitute dried thyme, but NOT dried rosemary, an ingredient that just sticks in my throat like dead pine needles!)
2 bay leaves
3 cups fresh chopped kale
1 cup dry white wine
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 slice thick smoky bacon, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper
Optional garnishes:
Shredded Parmesan
Truffle oil
Serve with hot crusty bread and butter.

Vegetarian version:
Substitute vegetable stock, omit the turkey and bacon. It’s just as yummy!
Directions:

In a heavy Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat is rendered. If you choose not to use bacon, just skip to the next step – trust me, it’ll still be delicious!

Add the olive oil and allow to heat up. Add onion, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and mushrooms.

Cook for about 2 minutes and add the turkey. Season lightly. Cook, breaking apart as necessary, until the turkey has only a little pink left.

Add the wine, chick peas, beans, hominy and the chicken broth. Season with the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer (do not bring to a full boil) and simmer on low for 15 minutes. Fish out the rosemary stems (the leaves will have fallen off by now).

Stir in the chopped kale (YES, it will all fit. Just push it down in the broth). Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low for another 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover for 15-30 minutes.

Serve topped with shredded parmesan and/or a little truffle oil. Serve with hot crusty bread and butter. Wait a minute! Where’s the rest of that white wine? Chilin’ in the fridge, right? And it ain’t gettin’ no fresher!

Vegetarian version:
Substitute vegetable stock, omit the turkey and bacon. It’s just as yummy!

Wait a minute!

Where’s the rest of that white wine? Chilin’ in the fridge, right? And it ain’t gettin’ no fresher!