Vegan White Bean, Kale & Sweet Potato Soup

Today I made a seriously delicious soup!  I wanted to make something healthy, hearty, and warm (for the cold weather) to last me through the week for meals.  I also wanted to use some in-season ingredients too!  I found this awesome recipe through Pinterest, and decided to make it my own! 

This soup takes a little bit of time to make, however the beans can be made ahead of time to cut down on that or you can even used canned.  But since I'm trying to reduce my waste, I got mine uncooked from the bulk section of Natural Grocers. :) 

Vegan White Bean, Kale & Sweet Potato Soup
(Serves about 5)
Vegan, Gluten-Free

1 cup uncooked white beans (I used Great Northern Beans)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & diced
1/2 one sweet yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red potato, peeled & diced
3 leaves of kale, spines removed, torn into pieces
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2-3 cups vegetable broth
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Olive oil
Splash of white wine, or sweet rice cooking liquid
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Soak the white beans overnight - or if you want to cook the soup same-day, boil the beans in water for 4-5 minutes, then cover & let rest for 2-4 hours.  Drain water off the beans, and add 4 cups of fresh water.  Bring to a boil for 15 minutes (covered), then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour.  Continue to let them cook throughout the next steps (after the hour is up).

In a large pot, add some olive oil.  Cook the onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes until tender.  Splash with white wine or sweet cooking liquid to deglaze the pot.  Add the kale and stir well until welted (about 2-3 minutes).  Add the potatoes and stir well.  Add the vegetable broth, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Dump out about 1/2 of the water from the beans, then add the beans and their remaining water to the soup pot.  Stir well, and let simmer (covered) for about 10-15 more minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Mash some of the potatoes on the side of the pot, or use a hand blender to mix it up just a little bit (I wanted to keep some chunks in mine, but give it more body).

Add seasonings and nutritional yeast and stir well.  Serve hot!

This soup was CRAZY delicious - I ate my whole bowl in 5 minutes (about 1/18th of the time it took to make.  Haha!).  Its savory with a little sweetness from the sweet potatoes, and tasted like a great comfort food that just happened to also be super healthy!

Seriously, this was super yummy.  You must try it!  I will for sure be making it again. 

You can also use butternut squash instead of sweet potatoes or yams (as per the original recipe).  
Enjoy!