Versatalles Bean Soup Recipe
To save money, I like to cook good food at home. I like to save money, but one area I don’t skimp on is food quality. I don’t care about the cost, maintaining your good health is saving money. Buy organically grown foods when possible.
Beans are an excellent source of plant protein, without the added animal fat. This makes beans a good food for weight watchers and low carb counters. Beans can be purchased in the bulk food section of your local grocery store. Plus, Costco sells large bags of pinto beans – it’s the highest quality kidney bean you will ever find.
My favorite food is hot soup, it’s a comfort food especially good for the cold Oregon weather. I make soup in a 12-quart pot I bought from Ikea and freeze the extra in microwaveable cookware. Soup is a versatile food, you can add almost any vegetable. You can make use of the vegetables that are for sale. I would suggest trying the following vegetables in your next soup; Zucchini, squash, green bell peppers, hot peppers, squash, tomatoes, and sweet onions. You can make all kinds of delicious soups, with different combinations of ingredients. You can flavor your soups with; taco spices, curries, soy sauce and tabasco. Jalapeño Green Tabasco has an exceptional flavor in soups.
Bean Soup Ingredient List
• “Better Than Bouillon” Beef or Chicken Soup Base (available at Costco)
• Two cans (12.5 ounces each) of Costco “Harvest Creek” brand turkey
• A bunch of celery
• Two packages of frozen vegetables (Normandy mix) about 20 ounces total
• A large onion
• Optional: a pound of ground beef
• 32 ounces dried black beans
• 16 ounces Lima beans
• Add water up to about 2/3 of the volume of the pot
You can also experiment with using other beans and grains. There are red kidney, lentils, barley, navy blue, small red beans, rice, pinto beans, etc. It’s good to try different ingredients to match your own personal tastes and benefit from different nutritional values. Research the benefits of each new ingredient you plan to use online.
Start by sorting (watch out for the rocks) and cleaning the Lima and Black beans, then soak the beans in water for a day. Remember to throw out the water and add fresh water before cooking the beans. After that, cook the beans over medium-high heat, the beans are done when they soften. Cut the celery and onion, add to the pot. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes, then add the broth (about two to three heaping tablespoons, use more or less depending on how strong you like) and other spices you like, do not add extra salt. You can add salt later on the table, otherwise the salt will concentrate as the water boils, therefore it will taste more salty. Then add the turkey meat and frozen vegetables. Bring the soup to a boil and then turn off the stove. It is ready to eat. If you use raw meat, remember to cook it well.
You can let the soup cool and then separate it into smaller containers to freeze. I like to bring the frozen soup to work for lunch. So live healthier and spend less money. Cook delicious food at home, exercise moderately, eat soup, and feel better.
