I made it through another day of my fast! Yay!
Tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s lunch will be a delicious and hearty red bean soup. This is a pretty simple recipe, but I sometimes like to have really thick soups and this recipe features one of my fav cooking tools, the hand-held immersion blender. I used it to puree some of the soup toward the end of cooking. I usually try to use fresh beans, but this soup was on a whim and I needed to get something on the stove ASAP, and one thing I always have in my pantry are canned beans: kidney beans, black beans and cannellini beans – they never fail me!
Red Bean Soup
2 tbsn olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 small carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 15 ounce cans vegetable broth
3 whole scallions, chopped
fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
cooked brown rice
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over high heat. Add the onions, peppers, carrots, garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the beans, bay leaves, thyme and vegetable broth. Stir well then reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for about 45 minutes or until the beans are tender, stir occasionally. Remove bay leaves and stems from thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You can stop there, but I suggest taking this soup to another level:
Remove 1 cup of the soup from the pot and reserve. In batches in a food processor, puree the remaining red beans. Add reserved beans and pureed beans back to the pot. OR With a hand-held immersion blender puree the red beans (be careful this soup is hot and may splash) directly in the pot. Add cilantro and half the scallions to pot and stir well. Serve in soup bowls and top with a few spoons of rice and garnish with remaining scallions and cilantro. YUM!
** Fun Facts:
Red Kidney Bean, also known as the chili bean.
Like most beans, kidney beans are rich in the best sort of fiber – soluble fiber – which helps to eliminate cholesterol from the body. They are a good source of folate, potassium, iron, manganese, copper and zinc. As a high-potassium, low-sodium food they help reduce blood pressure. Not only are they low in fat, but when combined with grains, beans supply high quality protein which provides a healthy alternative to meat or other animal protein. Kidney beans also contain protease inhibitors which frustrate the development of cancerous cells.
Hey Jin!
You are doing a great job. I am proud of you and all the best in 2010. I would like to know the ingredient to put in beans to avoid gas? It is winter and bean soups are great, but one have to make sure guest can enjoy the meal without causing discomfort later. Have a great time in your kitchen.
Love, kele
Hi Jin;
Great recipe, I am trying tomorrow in the snow…
keep up the good work, I love your recipes.
Pat
this sounds so good! i can’t wait to try it!