Easy Peasy: Trader Joe's Versatile Bean Soup
This soup is great as a veggie soup, or you can add lean ground meat or chicken. It's great because you can add any veggies you may have on hand or just about anything you want to throw in there such as kale, sweet potatoes (my favorite!), celery root, cauliflower or broccolli.
Beans are filled with fiber, protein and vitamins plus they are super delicious and filling. It is important to soak your beans in water overnight or at least for four hours before you cook them because beans contain phytic acids that can prevent nutrient absorption. Soaking the beans before hand greatly reduces the amount of these harmful phytates. This makes the beans easier to digest. (Translation: less gas!)
Trader Joe's sells packages of 17 Bean and Barley Mix. On the back of the package is this recipe for the soup. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, not to worry, you can simply use any combination of dried beans for this recipe.
Bountiful Bean Soup
1 (1 lb) bag 17 Bean & Barley Mix (about 2 1/2 cups of beans)
1-2 Tbs olive or coconut oil
1 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup chopped carrots, and 1 cup chopped celery)
2 (32 oz) cartons (or 8 Cups) FreeRange Organic Chicken Broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (for fun variety, try the tomatoes with the green chilis)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 bouquet garni* (optional) or spices of choice
(any way you want to spice it up from lemon pepper or mixed herbs to mexican or indian spices for more adventure. But remember, less is more and try to taste the soup periodicially to make sure the flavors are to your liking.)
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1. Soak the beans for 4 hours, up to overnight. Rinse and drain beans.
2. In a large soup pot, saute the onions, carrots and celery in olive or coconut oil until the onions are soft.
3. Add the broth, beans, tomatoes, thyme and any other desired spices or veggies to the soup pot. (If using bouquet garni, add to pot after 40 minutes of cooking.)
4. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour, until the beans are soft.
5. Find and discard the bouquet garni before serving. Don't let it sit in the pot after cooking.
* A bouquet garni is a french style of adding spices to your soup by tying them up in a bundle . It can consist of different herbs and spices such as parsley, bay leaves, thyme, and/or rosemary. Any combination you would like.
