Real Food: Spinach and Leek White Bean Soup

Ok, so lately this has been our favorite meal. I usually make it on Sunday and then we can eat leftovers throughout the week. It has been unusually cold here, so soups have been a go-to for us lately. This soup is amazing, and includes our new favorite veggie, leeks! For a tutorial on how to clean and cut leeks (I was doing it wrong for the first few weeks, oops!) watch this tutorial:

Super easy! They are kinda like a big green onion, but so much better! Ok, back to the soup. It is simple and easy in terms of ingredients and prep. I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com - if you haven't set up an account there yet, do it. Like now. Come back to the blog. Have you set-up an account yet? It is the best thing ever. Thousands of recipes, reviewed by people who have tried them, a recipe box/print option, and a shopping list generator based on the recipes you choose; see, I said it was amazing!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 leeks, bulb only, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 (16 ounce) cans fat-free chicken broth
• 2 (16 ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach
• salt and pepper to taste

I tweak a few things . . . I add a lot more garlic, we love garlic and it makes this soup delicious! We use organic chicken broth, I use about 1 to 1 1/2 TB of cumin, I purchased the Far East brand of couscous because I couldn't find whole wheat, I use half the box and half the seasoning packet per batch of soup, this brand of couscous has mostly all whole ingredients and the rest of the soup is pretty solid, so I don't feel bad. I add at least 2 tsp. of white pepper (I am obsessed with it!), and a little paprika, then I salt and pepper to taste.

Those are my ingredient changes and here is how you actually make the soup . . .

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, cannellini beans, bay leaves and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and stir in the couscous. Cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in spinach and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. 

Find the full recipe here. 

Enjoy!!