Grandma LaVerne’s Green Bean Soup

We took a fun trip to a local farm for some Summer Savory, a key ingredient in the recipe, “Grandma LaVerne’s Green Bean Soup”.  Most of the people in our Whole Food’s class had never heard of summer savory but loved the flavor and aroma.

You will notice it looks very similar to a Rosemary plant and is in the same family.  It grows like a bush.  Fresh summer savory is the best, second best is some you have dried yourself.

Try growing your own and be sure to share some with me!  (I grew my own in the Fru-Fru Farmer’s garden last summer)

Since it is much like a weed, it’s easy to grow and drying is simply hanging the full plant or cuttings upside down!

You could also visit a local organic farm like the one we visited, Arugula Star Farms in Columbia, Tennessee just 9 miles south of Leiper’s Fork.  A young couple, Matthew and Allison, have devoted their lives to developing this certified organic farm and sharing their knowledge and food with others.

Our visit to their farm was a great reminder of what a false, plastic world we live in, here in the city and how hard the people work who grow our food.  Shame on us for not wanting to pay for it!  Most of us do much less meaningful work, get paid a ridiculous amount of money for it and still are not grateful.  Well, anyway, thank you Matthew and Allison for your hard labor and enough of my preaching!

The nutrition benefits of this soup are incredible!

Anti-inflammatory, anti-septic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial

Anti-cancer, immune boosting, protects against cataracts,

Macular degeneration, reduces cholesterol, risk of stroke, blood clots,

Heart attacks, reduces blood pressure, promotes natural body

Detoxification, supports healthy connective tissue like cartilage,

Ligaments, tendons, muscles, cleanses kidneys, eliminates gout.

There are 3 ways to eat this soup:

1.  Just the plain soup, nothing added, it is delicious this way!

2.  Put a few drops of apple cider vinegar into a bowl, add your soup and then stir in a milk.  We used Hemp milk at our class.  You could also add some raw, unpasteurized cream.

3. Fill your bowl with soup and top it with a teaspoon of Erivan’s Plain Yogurt made from unpasteurized milk.

Serve with fresh salad, it would also be good with a slice of sprouted sourdough bread and earth balance or real butter!

This soup is Gluten Free and Dairy Free if you don’t use the yogurt and real butter!

Print Recipe

Grandma LaVerne's Green Bean Soup

My mom made this every year during green bean season...it is a family favorite. I made-it-over to make it a healthier dish. This is a very satisfying summer soup. The adjustments I made were eliminating ham, using grape seed oil to saute the veggies before making the soup, this is key to a rich flavor since there is no meat. I add Kale to everything because it is so good for you. Serve with a nice big salad and some fresh gluten free bread or regular bread if you don't have to watch the gluten. Makes 1/2 gallon. Can be canned or frozen. Cool first and do not add the yogurt if you are going to freeze or can, add that just before serving.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

Calories:

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh organic green beans
• 1 large organic yukon gold potato
• 1 large organic carrot
• 1 large vidalia sweet or walla walla sweet onion
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 Kale leaves
• ¼ pound organic turkey bacon optional
• 1 Tablespoon Grape seed oil
• 1-2 Tablespoons organic butter or Earth Balance Butter Substitute
• 1 teaspoon Better Than Boullion Vegetarian Vegetable Base Publix and Whole Foods Markets
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or ground white pepper
• Celtic Sea Salt to taste
• 1-2 Tablespoons fresh summer savory or
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1dried parsley
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and Hemp milk or raw cream OR
• Plain Organic Yogurt...we use Erivan’s or Greek yogurt or homemade. To be vegan you can use almond or coconut plain yogurt. Do a taste test first to make sure you like it.

Instructions

• Wash and snap beans into bite sized pieces (work but worth it!)
• Cut carrot, potato, onion into bite sized chunks
• Mince Garlic, remove stem and thin slice Kale.
• In a large soup pot pour Grape seed oil and butter or earth balance
• Add all cut up veggies and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes until onion is soft.
• Add filtered water to the pot of veggies to cover veggies plus about 2 inches above veggies (about 4-6 cups of water).
• Thin slice turkey bacon into bite sized pieces and add to pot. This is definitely optional, the soup is great without any meat. We did not add meat at our class and everyone LOVED the soup!
• If using dried herbs, add them along with Better Thank Boullion, Celtic Sea Salt and Pepper. If using fresh herbs, just add everything but the herbs. Do not add fresh herbs until just before serving.
• Cook for 20 minutes until potatoes and carrots are soft but not mushy.