Friday, February 25, 2011

16 bean soup

I love soup. And I especially love bean soups. I'm sure I'm not the only one though, who struggles with using dry beans. I know that in "theory" they are easy to use. It's that whole, soaking them overnight and having them not taste like little rocks thing that makes it difficult for me.

At about $1.00 for a pound of beans though, it's pretty tempting to find a way to use them up. Am I right? Currently we are receiving WIC - which if you haven't done before means you get beans (canned or dry) every week or two. It makes no sense to me to get a can of beans (16oz) when I can get a bag of beans (16oz) that will multiply!

WIC (at least in our area) is now giving fresh fruit and veges as well, so the only things in here that weren't a WIC food were the $1.25 package of italian sausage (bought from a discount store), a dash (or 3) of garlic salt, can of tomato sauce, and the chicken bullion cubes.

So here's how I made our 16 bean soup after perusing a few different recipes online. :)


IMG_2342

Soak beans overnight. I remembered around noon the day before and decided to let them soak for nearly 24 hours. I think this served me well. It meant that I didn't forget to do it after dinner when I was brain-dead from a long day. Around bedtime I realized that the water was almost all soaked in, so I added more. Make sure the water always covers the beans. You can always drain off the water, extra won't hurt.

IMG_2346

The next morning drained the beans. Then I chopped celery (I would have added onion, but we were out), and added bit of garlic salt.

IMG_2348

And I added 2 boullion cubes. Pour in six cups of water and bring to a boil for about an hour. Then let it simmer until the beans are soft. I was surprised, it did not take all day long. I thought it would. It's one of the reasons I don't make beans more often because I thought they were a "have to be home all day to cook it" food. Not so. And the great thing about soup, you can start it at 8am over breakfast and then turn it off for the day until just before dinner.

After the beans were soft, I added a can of tomato sauce and some (fried) italian sausage.

Seriously, this soup was delicious! And there's still half of it left, in the freezer! :)

But may I recommend Beano. ;)

So, in summary:

1 lb bag of 16 bean GOYA soup mix
Water to soak
2 T garlic salt
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 chicken boullion cubes
1 can (16oz) tomato sauce
1 lb italian sausage

Soak, boil, simmer.

7 comments:

  1. Sounds good.. and Wic is a awesome program.. It has been around for years as I am old and can remember when my Mom was on WIC when my father was in the service.. What a blessing it was as he was in Korea serving our country and Mom was doing everything she could to make the buck stretch to feed us 6 kids.. She got WIC for the young ones..
    Way to stretch those beans.. makes me hungry for some.. maybe this weekend..
    Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I make mine in the crockpot and don't soak the beans. Turns out great. Here's the recipe I use: http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotsoup/r/bl58c12.htm

    You could easily sub boullion cubes for the chicken broth. Elaine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Man I would love to try that when I'm not breastfeeding. To make it now would be just mean.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One word: CROCKPOT!
    I soak mine overnight & then dump the whole bowl (water & all) into the crockpot in the morning. Add your spices, put on the lid & turn it on low. Let it sit there & cook all day and it's ready for supper!

    ReplyDelete
  5. yum, love bean soup. The first step of my recipe is always - put beans on kitchen bench to remind me to soak overnight. Go to bed. Realise the next day that I haven't put the beans on to soak, and endeavour to do better next time. This first step may be repeated several times (especially if someone moves the beans out of the way) until we finally get to the actual cooking and eating of the soup!

    ReplyDelete
  6. i also am a big van of bean soups and dry beans. I usually soak mine in the crock pot over night on low and just add everything else in the morning. Even my chilis i start that way. mmmmmm...yummy for sure!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have read your blog for a couple years now and absolutely love it! I walked through the grocery store the other day with your blog pulled up so I could get the ingredients for this soup...going to start soaking the beans now and can't wait to try it! You have a precious family!

    ReplyDelete