1. Begin by chopping the carrot into bite size coin pieces. Dice the onion. Mince the garlic and set all of this aside. In a large dutch oven or pot, drizzle a tbsp of olive oil and let it warm up on medium heat. Once warm, add in the carrots and onion. Stir around and let the oil coat them. Let cook for 4-5 minutes, until carrots begin to soften. Once the 5 minutes is up, add in the garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute, until garlic is fragrant. 

2. To the pot, add in the vegetable broth and the 2 cans of beans as well as the thyme, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Let this simmer, uncovered, on low heat for about 15-20 minutes. 

3. Once simmered, de-stem and roughly chop the kale. Add it directly into the pot and let it wilt for about 2-3 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary by adding more salt and pepper. Top with more red pepper flakes!

Garlic Bread Croutons

1. While the soup is simmering, preheat your oven to 350. Chop 2-3 (depending on how many croutons you want) large slices of bread into bite sized crouton chunks. In a large bowl, add the bread pieces, 1-2 tbsp of olive oil (enough to coat bread) and the garlic powder and salt and pepper. Mix until fully coated and combined. 

2. Once coated, add in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring and flipping halfway through until the croutons are golden brown and crunchy. Top your soup with these!