Veggie, Bean, and Farro Soup

(with tomato herb bread!)

Hi friends and Happy New Year! A warm welcome to new subscribers. I’m so glad you’ve found your way here.

If you’d rather listen than read, the audio is posted above.

The holidays are over, so everyone is trying to eat healthier! Cleaner! Greener! Vegan! And I’m happy that we all are determined to do this after a month of seven-layer dips, cranberry cocktails, and peppermint bark.

This month, we’ve got steaming hot soups and warm bakes awaiting us. A bonus: they are healthy-ish, contain veggies, and are even sometimes vegan, like today’s soup.

Before we get to the recipes, some exciting news about 2025.

Betty Eatz Podcast

This month I’m launching the Betty Eatz Podcast! The show will be about real recipes created by real people. On the podcast, I interview food bloggers, recipe developers, and food writers from all over the world who create recipes worth making.

Finding a tried-and-true recipe that works and tastes good is becoming more and more like playing recipe roulette. There are a lot of terrible recipes floating around online that are untested, AI-generated, or just plain bad. Frequently our time, energy, and expense are wasted on these dishes.

Listeners of the show will learn how to identify good recipes from bad ones. And you will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look into the life of food creators and their secrets of combining ingredients to make the recipes you want to cook again and again. Plus, each podcast includes a recipe!

Later this month, you will find the podcast linked on the Betty Eatz home page here on Substack as well as on your favorite podcast listening platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Subscriber Benefits in 2025

This newsletter is reader-supported by all of you. Because of this, there are no ads, no sponsorships, and no endorsements. Your contributions are what make this possible.

The new year brings new goodies for all subscribers! Here’s what to look forward to starting January 6.

Free

It costs absolutely nothing and all Free subscribers receive:

• Weekly Friday newsletters 3 times a month and access to most recipes. Good news: in 2025, January, May, August, and October have an extra Friday, so you get an additional free newsletter these months!

• Archive access for the previous 2 months. You can read the most recent newsletters, going back two months.

Paid

Upgrade to Paid at any time. All Paid subscribers receive:

• Weekly Friday newsletters every single week and access to ALL recipes in the post. You get every single one of them!

• Quarterly cooking videos. Every 90 days you’ll receive a video covering the inside info on California cuisine ingredients, cooking techniques, and other helpful tips to help you succeed in the kitchen.

• Archive access to all previous newsletters. Nothing is held back.

• Recipe Index access. The index is an easy and helpful way to find all recipes and their links.

Founders

Anyone can upgrade to Founders at any time. All Founders subscribers receive:

• Personalized 4-Week Menu Plan. Answer a short survey, list personal preferences, and then you receive a four-week menu plan with recipes put together just for you.

• Weekly Friday newsletters with recipes 4 times a month (5 times in January, May, August, and October) and access to ALL recipes in the post. You get every single one of them!

• Quarterly cooking videos. Every 90 days you receive a video covering California cuisine ingredients, cooking techniques, and other helpful instructions.

• Archive access to all previous newsletters. Nothing is held back.

• Recipe Index access. The index is an easy and helpful way to find recipes and their links.

Now, on to the soup and bread featured this week!

Recipes

Veggie, Bean, and Farro Soup

Serves 4 to 6

Time: 40-ish minutes

Warm, cozy, and chock full of vegetables! Beans contribute some protein and farro brings a delicious chewy texture that is so satisfying. This recipe is easy to adapt, so use whatever beans and grains you prefer. You’re an adult, so you can do what you want.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 3 carrots, chopped

• 3 celery ribs, chopped

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 bunch lacinato kale (around 2 cups chopped)

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 3/4 cup quick cooking farro

• 6 cups vegetable broth

• 1 can (14 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce, optional (if you have some leftover from the bread recipe below)

Directions:

1. Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the oil, along with the carrots, celery, and onion. Sauté the vegetables until they are starting to soften, around 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Tip in the chopped kale, garlic, and farro. Stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the quick-cooking farro is done (around 15 minutes or follow package directions).

3. Add the beans and the spaghetti sauce (if using from the bread recipe below) and cook until heated through. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Tomato Herb Bread

Yields 1 loaf

Time: 3 hours total (30 minutes active, the rest is hands-off proofing)

Deliciously tomato-y and herby, this one reminds me of the sundried tomato bread at Panera Bread, minus their sugary topping. The very unusual ingredient here is a tomato-y spaghetti sauce, either homemade or purchased. If you do use a purchased sauce, feel free to add the little leftover bit to the soup recipe above for zero waste. Thanks to Red Star Yeast for the tomato bread recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup warm water

• 1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast

• 2 cups tomato-y spaghetti sauce (purchased or homemade), warmed but not hot

• 1 Tbsp Italian herb seasoning blend

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 4 1/2 to 5 cups bread flour

Directions:

1. Pour the warm water into a large bowl and add the yeast. Stir to dissolve. Tip in the spaghetti sauce, herb blend, and salt then stir to combine.

2. Add bread flour, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Depending on how liquid-y the tomato sauce is and how thirsty the flour is, you may need more or less flour. The dough should be slightly sticky but kneadable.

3. Once all the flour has been added, knead the dough either by hand or in a stand mixer for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should feel smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning the ball of dough over once so the greased side is facing up. Cover and place in a warm spot to rise for one hour or almost doubled in size.

4. Gently press down the dough and shape it into either an oblong or round. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Loosely cover and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes or until deep brown. A probe thermometer should read 190 F/88 C.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Tell Me

What are your dietary goals for the new year? I would love to know.

Next week, look forward to a SoCal-inspired roasted tomato soup with a gochujang drizzle (so good!) and kimchi grilled cheese sandwiches. See you next Friday!