Cooling Down Spicy Greens

I received a mountain of kale and collard greens from the CSA this week and decided to try something with cannelloni beans and a kick of spice.

I started by melting butter in a large pan and dumping in some of my homemade berbere (Ethiopian spice mix). Added the washed and trimmed greens and cooked until wilted, then tossed in a can of cannelloni beans.

Once the beans were heated through, I gave it a taste. Wow, was it spicy!

What to do? What to do? I rummaged around and found a beautiful orange. After adding it to the greens and beans, it cooled it down enough for me but was still too spicy for my eaters.

Last ditch solution ... bought more greens, cooked them down without the spice and combined all. It was a hit.

Easy Tuscan Soup

As always, I started with an existing recipe and then made it my own. Thanks to Giada for the start on this Bean and Garlic Soup.

Add a turn of olive oil and a couple pats of butter to a heavy bottomed pot.
Dice two shallots and add to pot. Saute until soft.
Add 2 sage leaves and 2 large cans of Cannelloni beans - drained and rinsed - stir.
Add 6 cups chicken stock and 4 cloves of garlic.

This is where it starts to vary - Giada uses only four cups but simmers for only ten more minutes. I like to let it simmer for an hour or so.

I also saute about 10 sage leaves in butter until crisp. Remove to paper towels and crumble for topping on soup.

When you are about 10 minutes from serving, turn heat down to low, break out the immersion blender and blend the soup.

Add about a cup of half and half, some ground black pepper, stir, and let sit for a couple minutes.

Ladle soup into shallow bowls and top with crumbled sage leaves.