Hi, how have you bean? If you ask me the same question, I would say, I have bean around the world looking for good and healthy recipes for you people. Okay enough of bean puns, buy I am quite sure, that by now, you must have guessed that today I am going to talk about beans. If you are an Indian or have visited Indian in some point of your life, you must have seen that we Indians are obsessed with beans. In Maharashtra, you must have seen people savoring bowls of spicy beans under the name of missal or ussal, similarly, in Northern India, especially Delhi and Punjab, people obsess over beans in the form of rajma chawal. But today is different. Today, I won’t share the traditional Indian bean recipes. Today, you will see beans being cooked into my favorite form: soup. Winters are here and there is nothing better than sipping a hot soup from our soup blows while talking to the family over the dinner. So grab up your crock pot and let’s get started.
- Vegetarian Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
2 cups of black beans
1 medium sized tomato, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste
Recipe
If you are using dry black beans, soak them in water overnight after covering the vessel. If you are using canned black beans, you can directly use them. Do not drain the water.
Heat up a deep saucepan, and add the black beans along with the water to it on medium high heat. Let is simmer.
Add the minced garlic, chopped tomatoes and onions, and mix well.
Season it with salt and ground cumin.
Add more water to adjust the consistency. Reduce the heat, cover the saucepan and let it simmer, while stirring occasionally.
Serve soup warm topped with additional fresh cilantro as garnish.
- Vegetarian White Bean Soup
Ingredients
2 cups of white beans
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 cup carrot, sliced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4-5 cups of vegetable stock
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper
Garnish: parmesan cheese and sliced green onions
Recipe
If you are using dry white beans, soak them in water overnight after covering the vessel. If you are using canned beans, strain and rinse them.
Boil and get the carrot slices semi-softened in a separate pan. Drain and keep aside. You can add this water to your vegetable stock.
Boil the vegetable stock in a large saucepan. Add the beans, celery, onions, carrot slices. Cover the saucepan and let it simmer for a while.
Once the vegetables have started to soften, season the soup with thyme, rosemary, dried basil, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.
Stir in well, cover again and let it simmer.
Remove the bay leaf and severe hot in you favorite soup bowl.
- Kidney Beans Chili Soup
Ingredients
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 small red or green bell pepper chopped finely
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 cups red kidney beans
½ cup vegetable stock
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Recipe
If you are using dry kidney beans, soak them in water overnight after covering the vessel. If you are using canned beans, strain and rinse them.
In a large and deep saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and minced garlic and stir for 1 – 2 minutes, until they become soft and light pink
Add the chopped green and red bell pepper, tomatoes, kidney beans, vegetable stock and mix with the onions and garlic. Add the salt, pepper and curry powder and mix until fully incorporated.
Once the chili mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the soup from heat and serve immediately.
If you love soups like I do, try making a soup for every winter night season, so next year when someone tells you that they tried a new soup recipe, you can say ‘bean there done that’. Okay, I am stopping now. Hope you enjoyed the recipes.