Kale and Butternut Squash Minestrone

I am loving my Riverdog Farm box. Their produce is so gorgeous and it has been surprisingly fun to have my vegetable selection predetermined by them (or by nature I guess you could say.) Instead of going to the market in search of specific ingredients to meet the needs of a particular recipe, the vegetables themselves take the upper-hand. Riverdog's kale and butternut squash were the seeds of inspiration for this hearty veggie stew.

If you've got the space and the weather, I highly recommend keeping a few pots of herbs around. The sage and rosemary came from our garden and I always pluck a few bay leaves from Tilden Park to dry at home. With your own herb pots, you can snip just enough for whatever you are cooking. You save so much money not buying packaged herbs and you gain a ton of flavor.



INGREDIENTS 
adapted from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food

• 1 cup dried Cannellini or Borlotti Beans (or 2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked beans)
• 1/ 4 cup olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf, dried
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups water
• 1 14 ounce can of stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped (an unexpected treat from Riverdog)
• 1 large bunch kale, stems removed, and roughly chopped
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes ( about 2 cups)
• fresh ground pepper
• Parmesan, grated

Soak beans overnight in 4 cups water. Drain. Place beans in sauce pan and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Simmer for 2 hours or so. Add more water if the level gets low. Salt and set aside tender beans.

In a dutch oven or stew pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Add bay, sage, rosemary, garlic and salt. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Add chopped kale and tomato (add all the tomato liquid too) and cook another 5 minutes.

Add 3 cups water, simmer 15 minutes.

Add sun dried tomatoes and squash. Cook until tender about 10-15 minutes. When squash is tender, add the cooked beans. Add salt if necessary.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and ground pepper.