Day 3 Food Challenge

We broke fast last night (Ash Wednesday) with a white bean soup, roasted potatoes and beets, and boiled beet greens. All soup ingredients were on hand, while the beets were purchased yesterday, along with other vegetables and fruits.

The soup was easy and very good, even without the pancetta the recipe called for. The recipe used canned white beans, but I had dried beans so used those instead. It wasn't really much additional work...a "quick boil" softened them up nicely for use in the soup. I had received a Williams-Sonoma catalog before the holidays, and it contained a few recipes, including this one, which is a pretty standard bean soup. In a stockpot, saute chopped onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in a little olive oil until softened. Add the beans and about 5 cups of chicken broth* as well as fresh thyme. Cook until beans are soft and then puree the soup with a hand blender (a great invention). Add grated Parmesan cheese and lots of black pepper. Yummy!

*Apparently chicken broth is "allowed" during meat-free days of Lent. Who knew? I Googled it on a whim, thinking I'd have to use vegetable broth instead, and was very surprised to note that animal "products" like broth or even bacon fat are OK'd by the church powers. You learn something new every day. And, I hasten to add, I don't really think Lent is all about the "rules." It's bigger than that, obviously.

I saved the beet greens and boiled them as suggested by The World's Healthiest Foods, my encyclopedic food bible. And you know, the kids actually like beet greens. You never know until you try it!