Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Tomato-White Bean Soup + KitchenAid Hand Blender Giveaway!

I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve/Day! We hosted a party at our house on New Year's Eve, then spent a relaxing day with friends yesterday (let's just say we watched three movies and played lots of card games). It was a glorious holiday!

After two days of sitting around, drinking, and eating unhealthy food, though, I am ready to eat some vegetables today...or, anything remotely healthy for that matter. So why don't we kick 2013 off with a healthy recipe (and a giveaway)?


Tomato-White Bean Soup with Arugula Pesto
Yields: 4 servings
Adapted from Self.com
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 yellow onion, chopped
-1 tablespoon minced garlic
-2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
-1 can (14 oz). diced tomatoes
-1 tablespoon dried parsley
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-2 Turkish bay leaves
-1 1/2-2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (amount depends on how thick you like your soup; I used about 1 1/2 cups)
-Pinch of cayenne pepper
-Salt and black pepper, to taste
-Four generous dollops of arugula pesto, for garnish

Directions:
1.) In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook for an additional 1-2 minutes (just watch the garlic carefully so it doesn't burn).
2.) Add beans, tomatoes, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and vegetable broth. Season with cayenne, salt and black pepper. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes.
3.) Remove bay leaves from soup; discard. With a hand blender, puree soup to your liking (I pureed mine completely). Divide soup among four bowls, and dollop each with pesto (I stirred the pesto in so it swirled throughout the soup).


For being really easy - and cheap - to prepare, this soup was wonderfully elegant and delicious. The arugula really makes this soup, so I highly recommend not skipping out on using it!

If you don't have a hand blender, you can enter my giveaway. ;) I'm giving away a KitchenAid 3 Speed Hand Blender in Contour Silver (pictured below):


This product blends, purees, whisks, and chops just about anything. I have a hand blender, and I seriously use it all the time for everything from soups to iced coffee drinks. 

To enter to win this 3 speed hand blender, simply comment on this post telling me what you're looking forward to in 2013. For an extra entry, simply tweet: "I want to #win a @KitchenAidUSA 3 speed hand blender from @MichellePC!" Just post a second comment saying you tweeted. 

I will pick a winner the morning of Monday, January 7th. Good luck!

23 comments:

  1. Where to begin with 2013 wishes!! New beginnings, I'll leave it at that : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. The soup looks great, and just what I need right about now. Best wishes for 2013! I already have a hand blender, so I hereby render myself ineligible for the giveaway, but it's a great gadget to have, for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am looking forward to my brother's wedding.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm looking forward to a vaca in the Virgin Islands at the end of January. Aahh, can't wait.

    ReplyDelete
  5. love the addition of white beans in the soup! definitely a delicious start to 2013.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I got an All-Clad immersion blender at my bridal shower and finally broke it out last week... to make, of all things, tomato soup! I'll have to try this one too. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.) Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm looking forward to making lots of healthy food like this in 2013... particularly in January to undo everything I did in December!

    ReplyDelete
  8. to baby #1 coming in feb! and making his food with this! thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. i look forward to eating healthy.. and getting married this year!
    daniellex at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am looking forward to ski trips this winter and more travels this summer. would love to win this!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am looking forward to another fun year!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am looking forward to my trip to my home country this year!! Thanks for the giveaway!

    bvbabybv at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for the recipe!

    Tweet!
    https://twitter.com/bvbabybv/status/287027004799340546

    ReplyDelete
  14. This soup sounds delicious!

    I'm looking forward to new beginnings and lots of positivity in 2013.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looking forward to traveling to Ireland with my best friend! We've been saving up for this trip for a few years. Both of us love the history and culture of this country and of course the culinary adventures it holds.

    lifesdeepcolors at hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tweeted here:
    https://twitter.com/LifesDeepColors/status/287076587256557568

    lifesdeepcolors at hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm looking forward to seeing my best friends get married!! I'm so happy for them!

    ReplyDelete
  18. also tweeted - https://twitter.com/stephcouponsx/status/287729374738935808

    ReplyDelete
  19. We are buying a house right now so I'm looking forward to getting those keys in my hands, fixing the house up, and moving in.

    Sleepyheadedmom at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I tweeted https://twitter.com/sleepyheadedmom/status/288055309069598720

    Sleepyheadedmom at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am looking forward to losing weight, eating healthier, and just a general all around healthier lifestyle

    ReplyDelete
  22. TWEET
    https://twitter.com/MsCarolsueA/status/288103821954121728
    Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net

    ReplyDelete