vegetarian | Jenna's Everything Blog

I left a glowing review of this recipe on Tasty Kitchen–and for good reason.

What a perfect weeknight meal! It’s filling, quick and easy to make, super tasty, and healthy to boot (creamy without the cream). I served it with some goat cheese sprinkled on top, which was delicious. This recipe is awesome and everyone should make it immediately.

I was a little worried that since the texture of the soup is creamy it wouldn’t be interesting enough to have as a stand-alone dish. But I was wrong! I couldn’t get enough of this stuff, and continued to eat spoonfuls of it straight from the pot after finishing a bowl and a half of it for dinner. You can also serve it with some crostini, as the lovely author of the original recipe suggests.

Though great by itself, since the cilantro and lime flavors scream “Mexican!” to me, I couldn’t help envisioning that this would also be great alongside some tacos or enchiladas.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

3 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
3-15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 limes, zested and juiced
2 cups vegetable stock
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional garnishes: cilantro, lime wedges, goat cheese, crostini

Here’s our humble assembly, which in under 30 minutes will be transformed into an addictive, filling soup.

Start out by chopping the onion and mincing the garlic.

Everything is going to be pureed at the end, so there’s no need for a pretty dice.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.

While that’s cooking away, zest both the limes.

You’re probably tired of me extolling the virtues of my microplane zester, but bear with me one more time–it’s amazing. Zesting a lime on a regular box grater = danger untold. (i.e., the skin shaved off your knuckles as the citrusy acid burns the cut). With the microplane, zesting things is safer and easier. Just remember: Safety First, Safety Always. Thus endeth my small sermon.

Now, squeeze the living daylights out of those limes to extract every drop of juice.

Add the cannellini beans and lime zest to the pot . . .

. . . and cook for 2-3 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

You should have enough time at this juncture to give the cilantro a rough chop:

Set aside a little cilantro and maybe a wedge or two of lime to garnish the soup later.

And it’s back to the pot! Add the stock . . .

. . . the lime juice . . .

. . . and the cilantro.

Lovely!

Bring to a boil, then cover the pot and lower the heat.

Simmer for 5 minutes. During those 5 minutes, please haphazardly toss bowls, spoons and napkins on the table and call it a ‘tablescape’ as you shout “Dinner in ffffiiiiiiive!”

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until creamy.

Now give the soup a taste . . .

. . . and season it with salt and pepper until it’s to your liking.

Serve hot!

Oh yes.

There are so many choices for garnishing this soup. Personally, I really loved the goat cheese.

You could also do crumbled crackers.

It’s just so dang good, people.

I can’t wait to personally devour the leftovers.*

*As this post was written over a week ago, the leftovers are long gone. So please don’t go looking in my fridge for them, because if you do, you will only find heartache and despair.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Cilantro Lime White Bean Soup

Who isn’t a sucker for an easy weeknight meal? *silence thunders back* Right. Some evenings there’s just no energy available with which to crimp little ravioli packets that end up in the trash, or measure out what feels like a million and a half spices for a complexly flavored Etouffée stew. Sometimes I don’t want to cook–I just want to eat.

(By the way, you should totally make that stew–but maybe over the weekend.)

On nights like that, this is the kind of recipe I flee to for help. In fact, last Monday night when The Sickness was starting to descend on my head, sinus, and throat, I said You’re my only hope, Sriracha Fried Rice! And the Sriracha Fried Rice came through for me. The flavors in this little tossed-together dish are simple but good. Based on this original (again found via Tasty Kitchen, the fount that never stops giving), a bowl of this hits the ‘comfort food’ buttons in my soul. It’s not a show-stopper, but it’s a satisfying, homey meal that makes my stomach smile.

When I make fried rice, normally I incorporate the eggs into the dish, frying up an omelet and then breaking it up into the rice. However, this variation with fried eggs on top has me charmed. I’m never one to turn down a perfectly over-easy egg with a beautiful, sunny, runny yolk.

One two three hit it!

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

4 TBS peanut oil, plus 1 to fry the eggs

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup cabbage, chopped or shredded

1 splash Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)

1 pinch sugar

2 TBS soy sauce

3 TBS sriracha

4 cups cooked, cold rice

½ tsp salt, to taste

¼ black pepper, to taste

1 tsp sesame oil

3 green onions, diced

4 eggs (2 per person)

So the mincing of the garlic, the chopping of the onion, and the chopping of the cabbage I simply leave to your imagination. Bam! Here’s the assembly, ready to go.

Don’t you love it when ingredients magically get prepped? I know I do. (Thanks baby.)

And now! Heat the 4 TBS peanut oil in a large (12’’) cast iron skillet or wok over high heat. When hot, add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly so that it doesn’t burn.

Add the chopped onion and continue to stir fry for about 4 minutes, until the onion is starting to get translucent.

I happen to like big chunks of onion, but if you’re averse you can feel free to mince ‘er on up. Sprinkle the onion generously with salt and pepper as it fries.

Add the cabbage and fry for a few more minutes, until the cabbage is crisp-tender.

The cabbage isn’t extremely visible in this picture because I used a bag of cabbage that I shredded months ago and then froze. In the defrosting process it got a little mushy, and proceeded to disappear into the final dish. Alas.

Once the cabbage is getting tender, sprinkle in a pinch of sugar and splash in the Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry).

No need to measure–just splash. I doubt you could over-splash even if you tried.

Cook for about 2 minutes, letting some of the alcohol cook off.

Add the soy sauce . . .

. . . and the sriracha.

Stir that good stuff around, baby!

Time to add the rice.

Note: It’s very important to use cold, refrigerated cooked rice (as opposed to hot, freshly cooked rice). The cold rice gives fried rice its delectable texture. Hmmmm–I just said ‘rice’ four times and I see no way around it. That’s an F- in composition for you! Thank you, teacher in my head. At least it wasn’t an F – -. Those are the worst.

Stir fry the rice for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like to let it sit sometimes without touching it so that the grains get crisp and browned.