Recipe - White Bean Soup With Red Swiss Chard

1 cup Great Northern beans
3 tablespoon Olive oil
2 lg Onions; coarsely chopped
2 Carrots; peeled, and
Coarsely chopped
One half pound Red Swiss chard; ribs and
leaves, coarsely chopped
5 cup Chicken stock
2 cup Bean soaking water
3 Garlic cloves; minced
1 Bay leaf
1 One half teaspoon Salt
One half teaspoon Finelyground black pepper
3 tablespoon Finelychopped parsley
=== GARNISH ===
One fourth cup Finelychopped parsley
One fourth cup Freshlygrated Parmesan
cheese

Soak beans overnight in cold water to generously cover; or do a quick soak
by bringing beans to boil in water to cover, boiling 2 minutes, covering,
and letting stand 1 hour. Drain beans, reserving 2 cups soaking liquid. In
a 6quart soup pot, heat oil, add onions, and saute over low heat about 5
minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and saute another 3 minutes.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of chopped Swiss chard ribs and add remaining Swiss
chard to soup pot. Cook about 3 minutes, or until wilted. Add chicken
stock, reserved bean soaking liquid, beans, garlic, and bay leaf. Partially
cover, and simmer about 1 hour, until beans are tender. Remove bay leaf.
Steam reserved Swiss chard ribs for 2 minutes in a pan of boiling water
fitted with a steamer rack, or in a steamer. Remove and rinse with cold
water to stop cooking process. Reserve for garnish. Puree half the soup
through a food mill or a food processor fitted with the steel blade; return
pureed soup to pot containing remainder of soup. Stir in salt, pepper, and
parsley. Taste for seasoning. Serve soup garnished with Swiss chard ribs,
parsley, and Parmesan cheese. This recipe yields 6 to 8