On the Saturday morning before winter storm Fern rolled in, I ventured out with a fairly grocery list—well beyond the requisite milk, eggs and bread required for snowstorm prep (which I actually didn’t need). Among the items in my cart: not one, not two, but three large clamshells of greens—kale, spinach, and chard. A kind woman behind me in line, wearing a delightful snowman hat, asked if I was stocking up on lettuce for salad in case the power went out. I had to laugh. Salad in a snowstorm? Not quite. I explained that I was making a hearty soup, and she was intrigued enough to jot it down in a little notebook. Stephanie, if you’re reading this—yes, the soup was as good as it sounded.

This recipe came via a strong recommendation from my sister Dixie J, during one of our back-and-forth texts about dried beans. I took her advice to make the soup using Camellia cannellini beans (cooked from dry—they really do make a difference), along with turkey, lots of greens and herbs, and some Parmesan Reggiano rinds for depth.

I used a medley of kale, spinach, and chard, but feel free to substitute other sturdy greens or chop up what you have on hand. I recommend doing all your chopping—onions, garlic, carrots, herbs, and greens—ahead of time. It makes the cooking part almost effortless.

Herbs are flexible here. I used parsley, mint, and basil—grocery store shelves were a bit picked over ahead of the storm, but these worked beautifully. Mashing some of the beans can thicken the soup even more, though I left most intact for texture. And, don’t forget the lemon juice at the end as it adds a bit of brightness.

We ended up with 10 inches of snow, nowhere to go, and bowls of this warming soup in hand. I doubled the batch and tucked some into the freezer for future chilly nights.

Turkey, White Beans and Greens Soup

Beans, greens and coziness

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Course Main Dish

Servings 4 (9 cups)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion diced
1 large carrot peeled and diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/2 pound ground turkey
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 4 cups quart chicken stock
2 15- ounce cans cannellini beans or other white beans, drained and rinsed see Notes
1 Parmesan Reggiano rind optional
11 ounces 1 bunch greens, such as kale, chard, spinach, mustard greens or collard greens, chopped into bite-sized pieces see Notes
1 cup chopped fresh soft herbs, such as parsley, mint, dill, basil, cilantro, tarragon, chives or a combination see Notes
1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Garnish with grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese

Instructions

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven (at least 4 quarts) over medium. Add the oil and heat, about 30 seconds.
Add the onion and carrot, and sauté until very soft and brown at the edges, 7 to 10 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste, cumin and red-pepper flakes to the pot, and sauté until paste darkens, about 1 minute.
Stir in the turkey, garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, and sauté, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is browned in spots, 4 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the stock, beans and Parmesan Reggiano rind (if using). Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and let simmer until the soup is thick and flavorful, 15 to 25 minutes. If you prefer a thicker broth, you can smash some of the beans with the back of the spoon to release their starch. Or leave the beans whole for a brothier soup.
Stir in the greens and simmer until they are very soft. This will take 5 to 10 minutes for most greens, but tough collard greens might take 15 minutes. (Add a little water if the broth gets too reduced.)
Stir the herbs and lemon juice (start with 1/4 cup and taste adding more to taste) into the pot, taste and add more salt, cumin, red pepper flakes and lemon until the broth is lively and bright-tasting.
Remove the Parmesan Reggiano rind before serving.
Serve soup in bowls sprinkled with grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese.

Notes

If you prefer to use dried beans, start with 1/2 pound (8 ounces) dried beans (when cooked it will be the equivalent of 2 15-ounce cans of beans). Here’s an easy method to cook them—Cooking Dried Beans. You can prepare these two days in advance, drain, cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
I used a mixture of kale, spinach and chard (in a clamshell)—there was no need to chop these greens as they are all pretty small.
I used a combination of parsley, mint and basil—over half was parsley.
The recipe can be doubled. Use a 7 to 8 quart pot or Dutch oven.
This soup freezes well.