Soup's On

Great Northern White Bean-Tomato Soup

Mmmm, good.

This is my pantry standby, and one of our family's favorites. It's one of those few meals that everyone can agree on. So to kick off the start of winter—in our home it's whenever the snow starts and the tall, strong one goes back to work on Ski Patrol—I made our favorite fast soup. 

As I started thinking about Great Northern beans and snow, I couldn't help but get an urge to listen to some Portugal. The Man., a hard-rockin' sorta psychedelic "indy" band that is no longer indy now that they're on Atlantic Records. 

Their most recent album, In the Mountain in the Cloud, stole my heart earlier this year. The live shows transform the delicate songs into muscle-clad rock anthems. 

In the Mountain In the Clouds

Lead singer John Gourley and guitarist Zach Carothers grew up in Alaska, but now reside in Portland. Picturing Gourley as a kid in a two-room schoolhouse freezing his mukluks off has a way of making me feel warmer by comparison, despite the below-freezing temps outside. 

There wasn't much exposure to pop culture where he grew up, yet Gourley managed to become the lead singer of a rock band and tour the world. His parents were dog mushers who competed in the Iditarod! His dad picked him up from school sometimes by dogsled. 

"I always knew what the world would be like, but it was leaving and then going back home that I realized how different it was," Gourley once told me.

So what did a young Gourley spend time doing as a young Alaskan lad? When his dad wasn't getting him out of bed at 5 a.m. to build houses or saddle up to a dogsled, Gourley listened to his parents' records quite a bit. 

“For the most part, I was shy and just listened to what my parents listened to,” he said, name checking Sam Cooke and Ray Charles along with rock stalwarts like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Then he moved onto Nirvana and the Gourley (some of) the world knows started to emerge. 

Elaborate light show at the Fox in April. They are great live.

I like to think Gourley would like this tummy-warming soup. It's like swallowing a blanket fresh out of the dryer. 

Great Northern White Bean-Tomato Soup

Serves 8

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

6 cups veggie broth

4 cans of Great Northern (or Navy) white beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. minced garlic

Cholula chipotle flavor (optional)

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil and then add the chopped onions. Cook 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, until the onions are a bit translucent. Then dump everything else into the pot. 

Simmer down.

Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes. I like to add a little Cholula chipotle in at the end, or just put it on the table and let the fam add it if they want. I use a handheld blender to emulsify the soup and thicken it. A blender or potato masher could do the trick, as well. 

We served the soup with grilled cheese paninis, but crackers or sourdough toast work other nights, or even an everything bagel. 

Panini press utilized.

I always make this big of a batch because everyone wants seconds, and sometimes there is enough left over for lunch the next day. 

Warming up after the first day of Ski Patrol.