Recipe: Spinach and White Bean Soup

This recipe takes just 20 minutes from start to finish but tastes like it’s been simmering all day. You can sub kale, escarole or your favorite “green” for the spinach in this tasty soup!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 pound spinach, washed and chopped

• 4 cups low-salt chicken broth or bone broth

• 1 (15 oz.) can white beans, drained & rinsed

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• (optional: crumbled goat cheese)

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp of the oil. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic and saute for about 15-30 seconds before stirring in the chopped spinach. Saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and beans and cover to simmer about 5 minutes, until the beans are heated.

3. Ladle into soup bowls and add optional 2 tbsp of crumbled goat cheese.

Recipe by: Saara Haapanen

Photo Credit: Canva by nata_vkusidey from Getty Images

Spent Grain Beer Bread- A Healthier Version

Before the  grain was spent....I love this stuff. I am going to  try sprinkling it on a  salad......

Ingredients:

• Some water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon corn or agave Syrup
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups spent grain
• 1 instant yeast package bloomed.
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 3 pinches of sugar

Step one: Bloom your yeast

Fill a coffee cup halfway with warm water, I check the temperature of the water by placing my finger into the cup of water, it should feel slightly warmer than the air but not too hot. Pour the packet of yeast in the cup and add a few pinches of sugar to keep the yeast happy, give it a stir and wait....

Tah-Dah!!!! Seriously, that was the hardest part. 

So then, in no particular order I combine the above ingredients into the bread maker and put it on the dough setting. (If you need to do this by hand you can, you just literally have to mix it for 10-15 minutes. No joke! I have tried to cheat and just do five, or eight....nope at least 10 and 15 if you want to be sure. By that time my arm wants to fall off so I like the bread maker). 

Open the lid and take a peek after about 10 minutes of the bread maker doing all the work. You want the dough to be a little moist. Mine was a little dry, so here is where my awesome measuring skills come into play. There was a little grain left in the bowl so I splashed some water in the bowl and swirled it around and added this to the bread maker. 

Then I had to go teach a boot camp. I came home and started working and forgot about the bread...opps. I think it sat in there 3 hours....opened the lid and it looked like this. 

 then set the bread maker setting to "bake" and added an extra 30 minutes. The default is 1 hour, in the past this left the middle gooey so I added 30.  it started smelling awesome at 45 minutes and turned out great.... so much so that I forgot to take another photo until after a few slices. 

It turned out great, if you don't have a bread maker you can cook it in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 410 degrees. 

I health-ified it by only using whole wheat flour, used olive oil and minimal sugar. I have also been known to sprinkle in some garlic powder, or grated carrots at times.  

It is seriously easy, and I did it at altitude. You can also freeze extra grain. If you really want to try it but you don't brew let me know as the husband brews a lot and we have TONS of grain. Use this form to send me a message. 

Cheers!

Saara