Roasted Garlic Soup and All the Reasons Chili Disappoints Me

Happy Friday! Has this week been a month and a half, or what? Brutal. But we're here now, and we're celebrating with a soup you can enjoy all weekend. You can even enjoy it on a week night, it's a really easy recipe. I don't want to presume you have all the ingredients in your kitchen already, but you probably do! Just kidding, I hate when people say that. Check out this easy recipe I have for you today, perfect b/c you likely have all the ingredients on hand! And then they list obscure items like flour and butter. I won't be made to feel guilty b/c I don't keep chocolate chips in the house; I tell myself they're for cookies, but I eat them as I unpack the groceries. And who keeps heavy cream in the fridge? What am I, made of money?

I had some beans rattling around in my pantry after I pinned all these chili recipes. I make chili a few times a year before remember that I don't love it. I like it enough, but I'm not, like, going to chili cook-offs and hounding the cooks for their secrets. It always leave me wanting more. At least with soup, you know you're getting more with your meal. But chili is somehow acceptable as the meal, and that's just not enough. And how did it become the official food of tailgating? As someone who enjoys the eating and drinking side of tailgating, I want a food I can eat with one hand while pounding my beer with the other. You can't do that with with chili. 

My recipe today isn't chili, in case you were wondering. 

The best thing about this recipe, as with all soups, as that it's totally customizable. Use the ingredients as guidelines and tailor it to what's going bad in your fridge/pantry. I bought celery like two weeks ago that hasn't been touched, so into the soup it went! I like really thick soup (evidenced by the picture), so I went light on the stock, but you can add more depending on the consistency you like. The other reason I didn't dump my 32 ounce box of broth in was because I always make way too much soup. That's another recipe pet peeve I have, people making soups and praising the merits of the leftovers and freezability. I have more vats of soup in my freezer than I know what to do with. If you're only making soup for one or two, this recipe is perfect. But full disclosure, I didn't measure anything, so do with that what you will.  

Roasted Garlic Soup

Ingredients: 

1 garlic bulb (the whole bulb, not just one clove!)

Olive oil

1 yellow onion, rough chopped

6-8 celery sticks, rough chopped

1 14 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained

8-12 ounces broth/stock/water (may vary depending on how thick/thin you like your soup)

Cayenne pepper, pinch

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 400 F. Roast garlic using preferred method. There's a bunch of ways to roast garlic, here's what I do: peel garlic cloves, put them all a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil over the bunch and wrap the foil. Roast in your oven for an hour.
-Rough chop onion and celery (this is going to get blended, so don't spend a lot of time with the knife cuts). Roast in the oven with the garlic for 20-30 minutes, until browned.
-Once vegetables are roasted, add to blender with beans, broth, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and pour into a medium pot over low heat.
-Season with salt/pepper/cayenne (if you like the heat) or any other herbs you enjoy. Cook until warmed through, stirring occasionally, and eat.