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For this soup, I used those skinny green beans, often labeled French Green Beans or Haricots Verts. Regular green beans would do nicely, too, although they will need a bit more cooking time.
Serves 6
20 minutes preparation time
50 minutes cooking time
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 medium carrot, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 small celery rib, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
3 cups milk
3 cups vegetable stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)
corn cut off of 3 ears of corn (or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn)
2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and thyme and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, 6-7 minutes. Add the bay leaf, stock, milk, salt and pepper, and bring the soup to a simmer. Reduce the heat to very low so that the milk does not scald, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Add potatoes and corn, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. With an immersion blender or a potato masher, mash some of the potatoes into the broth to thicken it (this took about 5 seconds with my immersion blender).
Add the green beans and simmer until they are tender, about 5 minutes for French green beans, or a few minutes more for regular green beans. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Serve hot. Campfire optional.
Jobs for children: Smaller children can peel carrots and potatoes, pull the thyme leaves off the stems, snap the ends off the beans, measure milk and stock, grind pepper. Older children can chop vegetables.