There is one crucial component to this delicious and healthy soup — you must soak and boil your own beans and reserve the cooking liquid from the beans for your stock. This makes the soup creamy, delicious, and hearty. I've tried it several different ways and this is the way to go. Plus, it's economical and you avoid any nasty chemicals that may be present in canned beans and packaged broth (see my article in The Atlantic on obesogens for a bit on this and my book for all of the latest information).
Read MoreA hearty and nutritious soup, this recipe has infinite variations. Here's one to get you started — once you understand the basics of making your own soups you can create them with whatever you have on hand. This one came about after a trip to the farmer's market and contains many winter vegetables with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano on top. For the stock, I used my Vegetable Scrap Mineral Broth.