Fall Harvest Soup

The method

1. 01

   Hands on time: 15 minutes

2. 02

   Cooking time: 30 minutes or so

3. 03

   Serves 6Ingredients::4-5 dried shitake mushrooms6 cups water2 tbsp good olive oil4 large cloves garlic, minced (or finely chopped)1 large onion, diced1 tbsp fresh (or frozen) gingerroot, grated3 carrots, diced4 cups kale or collard greens, chopped2 cups cooked cannellini beans (I used 1(14oz/400ml) can of navy beans, drained)¼ cup mirin (I ran out so I used Chinese cooking wine)Healthy splash of tamari

4. 04

   Balsamic apple cider vinegar to taste (I used ¼ cup)4-5 dashes toasted sesame oil

5. 05

   Freshly ground pepper to taste

6. 06

   Place the dried mushrooms in a medium pot with the water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. When the mushrooms are soft, remove from cooking liquid and slice, discarding hard stems. Dice or slice and return to pot with broth.

7. 07

   Heat the olive oil over medium low heat in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven (or really large pot). Sauté garlic, ginger and onion for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. 08

   Add the carrots and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

9. 09

   Add the kale, beans (I roughly mashed to thicken the broth), mirin and sauté until the greens are deep green and tender.

10. 10

    Add the mushrooms and broth to the greens, stir and add tamari and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes to combine the flavors.

11. 11

    Season with toasted sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper and serve.