Leanne Ely's Pistou Vegetable Soup By Leanne Ely, C.N.C

If you saw me on QVC January 7th, this is the soup the host of Cookbook Corner was going nuts over and is from my book Healthy Foods: An irreverent guide to understanding nutrition and feeding your family well (Champion Press).

Soup 1 pound dried white beans -- cooked (you can use any white beans you have on hand) 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 onions -- chopped 4 cloves garlic 3 carrots -- chopped 1 celery rib -- chopped 4 potatoes -- diced 1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatos, diced 1/4 head cabbage -- shredded 8 leaves kale -- shredded 6 cups chicken stock -- canned or homemade 1 teaspoon thyme salt and pepper to taste Pistou 4 cloves garlic 4 ounces romano cheese -- cut in 1" pieces 3/4 cup pine nuts (pignolia) 2 cups basil leaves 3/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper to taste

Soup Serves 12 (unless you eat more than one big bowl!), Pistou makes 24 Spoonfuls Purée half the beans in your food processor and set aside. In a large pot, heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic for about two minutes or till translucent. Add carrot, celery and potato and saute another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and their liquid, beans, bean puree, and seasoning. Let simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken broth to the mixture (sooner if it seems to be drying out) and cook till vegetables are tender. Add cabbage and kale, correct the seasoning and serve with a dollop of pesto on the top. Serve soup with one big soup spoon full of pistou stirred in. Soup Per Serving: 114 Calories (kcal); 2g Total Fat; (18% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 419mg Sodium Food Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates Prepare Pistou In a food processor, place the first 3 ingredients and let her rip. Next, add basil and pulse till combines and chopped. Add olive oil in a slow stream with machine running. Scrape out of the bowl and use or store in ice cube trays in the freezer till molded. Then pull your pesto cubes out and stack them in a ziplock and throw them back in the freezer. Pistou Per Serving: 103 Calories (kcal); 10g Total Fat; (86% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; 5mg Cholesterol; 57mg Sodium Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates