Laundry Soup

There will always be times in life when we just really don't want to be doing what we happen to be doing. For me, that time comes about once every two weeks, when it's time to do laundry. But fear not my fellow laundry-despising friends. For when life hands you laundry, you can now make: Laundry Soup.


With fall in the air, and root vegetables on the farmer's market stalls, I found myself this week with a fridge full of produce begging to be spun into a deserving meal. And tonight was the only evening I knew I would have time to spend in the kitchen, but it was also the only evening I would have time for the dreaded chore. Knowing I would be pulled away from the kitchen at least twice, I needed something easy to prepare but slow to cook, that could work around my quick dashes to the laundromat. And then I had a plan: the laundry went in, the vegetables were chopped, the laundry was changed, the vegetables went into the pot, the laundry folded, and voila, dinner was ready.

It was a dinner so worthy of its ingredients that I may never look down upon doing laundry again.


Laundry Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 red onion, diced coarsely
3 small carrots, chopped
1 bunch turnips, stems removed, washed and chopped
3 cloves garlic
4 strips bacon, sliced
5 small potatoes, chopped into 1/2" pieces (I used a mix of red and yukon gold)
32 oz. chicken broth or stock
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
1 15-ounce can cannelloni beans, rinsed
1 bunch swiss chard or other greens, coarsely chopped (I used a mix of chard and mustard greens)

heat olive oil and butter in a large stockpot over medium heat, until butter bubbles slightly. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, being careful not to brown. Add carrots and turnips and cook for 8 minutes longer, until vegetables are soft. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add potatoes and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Add bacon and cook 3-5 minutes until partially cooked but not crisp. Add bacon to pot of vegetables, reserving bacon grease in skillet for later.

Add chicken broth, bay leaf, and thyme and bring to a rapid simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Stir occasionally, making sure liquid does not come to a full boil. When potatoes are cooked through, add beans. With a wooden spoon, carefully crush 1/3 to 1/2 of potato chunks against side of pot, until soup consistency reaches desired thickness. (For a thicker soup, crush more potatoes, for a more watery soup, crush less).

Meanwhile, in skillet used to prepare bacon, reheat bacon grease. Add chard or greens and saute 2-3 minutes, until slightly wilted. Add greens to pot and stir to incorporate. Simmer soup for 5-10 minutes longer, and remove from heat. Let stand 5-10 minutes, covered. Remove bay leaf and thyme springs and serve in heaping bowls.