Longevity Bean Soup
This is the kind of soup we love making when we want something simple, warming and packed with plants. Creamy butter beans, leafy greens, garlic, herbs and a little lemon come together in one pot for a nourishing bowl that’s full of flavour and seriously satisfying.
Takes 30 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 30 ml olive oil 2 tbsp
- 1 large onion about 150g / 1½ cups, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic about 20g / 1½ tbsp, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- ½ tsp chilli flakes optional
- 2 × 400g tins butter beans drained and rinsed (about 500g / 3½ cups total)
- 500 ml vegetable stock 2 cups
- 200 ml coconut milk or oat cream ¾ cup
- 3 –4 large handfuls chard or baby spinach about 120g / 4 cups, roughly chopped
- Zest of ½ lemon
- Lemon juice to taste
- 15 ml tamari 1 tbsp
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
To finish (optional)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh basil finely chopped
Instructions
Build the base
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 6–8 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the garlic, mixed herbs and chilli flakes and cook for another minute.
Add the beans and broth
- Add the butter beans, vegetable stock and tamari. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 8–10 minutes. Mash some of the beans with the back of a spoon, or briefly blend a cupful of the soup, to naturally thicken the broth.
Make it creamy
- Stir in the coconut milk or oat cream and simmer gently for another 5 minutes until rich and silky.
Add the greens
- Stir through the chard or spinach and cook for 2–3 minutes until just wilted. Add the lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.
Serve
- Ladle into bowls and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh basil.