White Bean & Roasted Garlic Soup

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup (from Vegan with a Vengeance)

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups great northern or navy beans, drained and rinsed
3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 bay leaf
juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
2 heads of garlic, roasted (yes, heads, not cloves)

To roast the garlic: Preheat your oven to 350. Get as much of the papery stuff off the garlic as you can. Set them on a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you start getting the rest of the papery stuff off. It comes off easily, but even easier if it's not still really freaking hot.

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, saute the onion with the olive oil for about 5-7 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and fennel and cook for another minute or so. Add the broth, beans, sage and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and add the roasted garlic. Remove from heat and puree in batches in a food processor or blender, or if you're super awesome like me, use your immersion blender and have less dishes to wash. Add everything back to the pot if you did it the blender/processor way otherwise, it's still in the pot. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine.

Serve garnished with fresh fennel leaves or grated carrots or parsley. Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings.