1 medium onion
lots of garlic!
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
1 head of kale
1 can kidney beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 can black eye peas
1 can pinto beans
1 small box frozen green beans
3 or 4 boxes or large cans of chicken stock
salt and pepper

Dice onion and sauté in large soup pot with a touch of olive oil. Cut up carrots and celery and add to the onion. Finely chop about 3 cloves of garlic and add to vegetables. Saute for a short time until veggies start to soften.

Chop kale into bite size pieces and drop into the pot on top of the vegetables. Let the kale steam while you thaw the green beans in microwave, and open canned beans. Open all cans and pour the beans into a strainer and rinse.

This is where I add more garlic! This soup is great if you have a cold. I usually take all the small inner cloves, peel and add whole or chopped in 1/2. Stir all vegetables in the pot. Kale should be wilting.

Now add all the beans on top of the vegetables.

If the beans are not rinsed well, you will find a sandy grit in your soup so don't skip this important step.

Add some salt and pepper, then pour all of the chicken stock over the beans, washing the salt and pepper through.

Once you've covered the vegetables enough so they're freely floating and easy to stir, bring to a boil, then reduce.

Cook until all vegetables are soft.

This soup is great for freezing, too. Enjoy!

Submitted by: Alison Huber