Asha Gomez's Pumpkin, Rainbow Chard & Cannellini Bean Soup

This one-pot meal from I Cook in Color, Gomez's new cookbook, "will emanate warmth on a cool fall night."

Photo: Victor Protasio

Gomez’s culinary career connects her past (growing up in a village in southern India) to her present (cooking as an award-winning chef in Atlanta). “I’ve spent more of my life as an American than not. Yet some folks, at their first glance of me in an apron, make a hasty judgment that my kitchen must smell of curry all the time. Well, a couple of nights a week they may be right, but on the whole, my kitchen smells of whatever inspires me.” Right now Gomez is energized by “the magic of soup season.” This one-pot meal from I Cook in Color, her new cookbook, “will emanate warmth on a cool fall night.”

Asha Gomez's Pumpkin, Rainbow Chard & Cannellini Bean Soup

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cups diced yellow onion (from 1 large onion)

1 cup thinly sliced celery (from 2 stalks)

2 1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (from 6 cloves)

6 whole green cardamom pods, smashed

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. ground white pepper

1 (14-1/2 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes (undrained)

4 cups vegetable broth

2 (15-oz.) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped (1/2-in. pieces) kabocha pumpkin

4 cups chopped and stemmed rainbow chard (from 1 bunch)

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add celery and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.

2. Add smashed cardamom pods, thyme, salt and pepper to pot; stir to combine. Add tomatoes; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes.

3. Add broth to pot; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; stir in beans and pumpkin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. If desired, remove and discard cardamom pods. Stir in chard; serve immediately.

Serves: 6

Active time: 45 minutes

Total time: 50 minutes