niki's favorite bean soup

[niki]

ok,this is my favorite bean soup using dried beans....when you combine a variety of beans,you improve the nutritional value...you're going to use a 4 quart pot and 1 1/2 lbs of beans will fill it up(a 6 quart crock pot and you can use 2 lbs of beans and eat forever)....you can eat it for a few days..you can freeze some for another day....REMEMBER that after the beans have soaked overnight,they have to simmer 1-1 1/2 hours before adding the tomato or they won't soften(taste one and don't add the tomato sauce until they're soft).................  
      1/2 lb black beans
      1/2 lb white beans(cannelini or navy beans)
      1/2 lb small red beans
soak the beans overnight.....the next day, rinse....bring them to a boil and rinse again(to de-gas them...i pour them this time through a collander).....set to simmer while you prepare the vegetables...in as large a teflon pan as you have,saute in olive oil: 
       5-6 medium onions
       1 lb carrots
       7-8 stalks of celery
 saute well until golden...then add to pot...season with freshly ground sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, oregano, cumin, crushed red pepper, chili powder and simmer until beans are nice and soft...THEN, add the crushed tomatoes....the broth is so tasty because of the black beans that if you add a nice amount of sea salt,you can get a delicious soup without using boullion or canned broth....
    NOW,that wasn't hard,was it?.........and it's delicious..

[TNangela]

Niki,
Sounds good I will try this soon.  I usually put a crock pot of dry beans each night, we like the variety we can have doing this.  We do not not normally have to worry about freezing them though.  My crew tends to lick the pots clean!!  Thanks for sharing!!
ANG

[Bobbi]

Hi Niki,

I am not good with dried beans. I tried to make something once & let them sit all night & I cooked those beans all day long over the stove to try to soften them.

Do they make all of these beans already prepped in cans?
If they do, could I just drain them & go from there. I really want to make a recipe that is easy & has lots of left overs so I can store some for when I get hungry.

Thanks! ~BOBBI 

[niki]

you absolutely can do that....i just made greek bean soup and used 3 cans of beans and used a can of crushed tomatoes...you could use one each of different types of beans and for this recipe,you could use 4 cans of beans.........you pick whichever beans you want to use...i would use 2 black beans...1 cannelini..1 small red beans...or any combo you prefer...you would want to saute the vegetables really good and cut the carrots in small pieces because with canned beans you would want to simmer it for about 1/2 hour......buy a bunch of cans so you have an extra can...and if you think it can take it,after adding the vegetables and some water,you could add another can....bear in mind that the soaked beans have the liquid they cooked in...so you would make up for that by adding  water......and the canned beans don't need as much salt....      
  maybe down the road you might want to try to use dried beans.......it's really a matter of just rinsing them and soaking them in a pot overnight and in the morning,you're at the same point of opening cans............they simmer about an hour before adding the vegetables and an hour after you add the vegetables......
   BUT,i'll be very happy to hear you made this with canned beans.............niki   

[niki]

hey ang...THAT'S the next thing i need to buy......a crock pot....what a great way to make bean soups..and it doesn't overheat your kitchen....maggie had mentioned to me that she had one and now i'm going to go look in linen n things.....................do you have the one that the crock comes out so you can clean it?.....niki   

[Bobbi]

Niki, I will try this to make this tomorrow. I will let you know how it turns out. I am also going to try to make Mary's chicken recipe she added today.

So, this bean soup I can have a bowl of at lunch & dinner? I think so. Correct me if I am wrong.

Wish me luck! My first time cooking anything from LDL. Everything has been out of a can so far & it has been hard to find soups without all of the added chemicals so I have been eating pretty much the same thing everyday.

BUT, my jeans are definitely looser. 

Have a Good Night All!

[niki]

bobbi..you can eat as much of this as you want...lunch and dinner......
  if you want,you can start on the greek bean soup....it's just onion sauteed in olive oil...then you add the crushed tomatoes..then the canned beans....for a first soup,it's really the easiest.........you can double it up to 2 cans of beans and a half a can of crushed tomatoes..you can use any kind of beans you want.....you could use 2 different types of beans........you'll see tomorrow.................niki

[Bobbi]

Thanks Again,

I think you could tell that I was looking for the easiest thing to try.
The Greek Bean Soup sounds easy. I will try that tomorrow instead.

I hope it comes out good!

[niki]

i remembered that you looked for canned soups to buy and i want you to succeed at these recipes...so starting with the easiest one sets you up for success......niki

[niki]

bobbi...i wanted to remind you that if you want to make a lot of the greek bean soup,you can use 3 cans of beans and a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes...that makes it easier for you...you won't have any lelftover crushed tomato and you'll have a lot of soup...and like i told you last night,you can use ANY beans you want...all the same or any combination...let me know if you have any more questions......................niki

[Bobbi]

Hey Niki,

I did make the soup. It turned out great! I made the Greek bean Soup.

I used black beans, northern beans & kidney beans all drained.
So, 3 cans total & one full can of the crushed tomatoes.
While I was cooking it, I decided to add some peas & then some corn,
some celery (which is in your recipe above) & simmered it for like 2 hours.

It is extremely filling. I didn't add water at all so it is kind of thick like chili.

I think I will get a little more adventurous with the recipes now. 
oh & also it was very easy to make!

Thanks so much!

[niki]

bobbi..when i hear stuff like this,it makes my day....now,you can use eggplant or zucchini as vegetables also or anything you feel like(just like you did)you can't ruin this soup..i'm surprised that the beans weren' t too mushy being cooked that long(i don't usually cook them for longer than 1/2 hr)but as long as they're good for you, that's wonderful...next time,if you want,you could  add some water and maybe add another can of beans...or just the way you made it,you could have browned some ground chicken breast and made it into chilli.................NOW,make this a few times and you'll be ready for phase 2(dried beans)....remember how you tried to make dried beans and they wouldn't cook?..that could've happened because you added the tomatoes before the beans were cooked.........do you think you did?...i just read that last night when i was reading about beans....i had forgotten about that fact...i just got into the habit of cooking the beans first before adding the tomato sauce and i forgot about the reason.........niki   

[Bobbi]

Hey Niki,

Well the last time I tried dried beans was like a year ago. Way before
I found LDL so I could try again. I had a few people over tonight & they kind of looked in the pot & dismissed it at first.
They do not do LDL. Well I guess it smelled good & they both had a bowl & loved it! They starting asking questions about LDL.

After I had mine & they had theirs, I had enough to make 3 containers full so I can just heat it up anytime in the next few days. I think I will try to make something else now. I also bought ground chicken & ground turkey at the store. What would you recommend that tastes great maybe using one of the above meats?
It can be a harder recipe cause it was kind of fun making that today.

I didn't have enough time or hunger  to also make Mary's Chicken Caccitora so I will try that tomorrow.

Thanks Again!

[niki]

hi bobbi.......well,you could make chilli......i did post a recipe for meatballs and you could use either ground roasted chickpeas or soynuts......if you don't live in ny,i don't think you'll be able to get roasted chickpeas...so you could try the meatball recipe with ground soynuts(pulverise in the blender or food processor)or there are loads of recipes using ground meat on the boards...take a look and see if anything hits you.......niki       

[TNangela]

Niki,
Sorry for the slow response to your question...6 of our kids begin school next week...thats a lot of supplies,shoes,clothes etc to buy...things are hectic here 
ANyway I do use the crock pot with a removable interior...actually I use 2..1 for beans and sometimes I cook soups or even a roast with carrots in the 2nd one because I can be away from home and not worry about burning the house down. After a long day at numerous doctors appointments with my husband it is nice to come home and the meals be ready...
ANG

[niki]

oh gosh ang.......6 kids off to school.......and i can't believe they go back to school in tennessee so early..here in ny,the kids don't go back to school until after labor day.......
  2 crock pots...wow....and i don't think i've had one for over 25 yrs.........i looked and saw that a common size is 5 1/2 or 6 quarts...........boy,i can cook 2 lbs of dried beans at a time......that's great.......the next time i go to waldbaums,i'm going to stop in linen n things...they always have 20% coupons(tara knows this because she lives over here)so that is definitely the first place to look................thanks for the info ang and extra grace to you to get the kids off..................niki

[TNangela]

Niki,
I use my crock and cook 2 lbs white beans and eat them for lunch, then add other ingredients and make soups for dinner.  We do go to school earlier but our calendar is set up so that we school for 9 weeks then break for 2 weeks for Fall, Christmas, and Spring.  It makes the summer short but the breaks are nice and statistically makes learning retention better.  I dread school starting because I truly enjoy my kids being home....i considered homeschooling but I figured all I would accomplish is cooking, and washing dishes!!  ANG

[niki]

boy ang,you have everything down to a science...
            that's great that they do that with your school system and it works...........i always used to get a little sad when my kids used to have to go back to school...and i personally loved school(i was a major bookworm..in ny, all those years ago they had something called SP classes..i never went to 8th grade...i was in a program that condensed 7th/8th/9th into 2 yrs)..so,i could never really understand why i felt that way................niki 

[Bobbi]

bobbi, 
you should try the black bean soup-mexican style that is on the boards.  wow is that stuff great!! and i add hominy and black eyed peas to give it even more of a boost.  and the mexican chili is great too.  has ground turkey with beans and corn.  just try different combinations and you will really be surprised with what you can come up with.  make sure you write them down and pass them on to us

Hi Imkay32, I just made your recipe! Your Mexican Chili. LOVE IT! I made it pretty spicy though (which I like). I didn't thaw any beef so I just used all ground turkey instead. It really turned out good. So far I having some good luck with the cooking.

I am liking it too & I have plenty to pack up to reheat another time. I think I have enough for tomorrow so I will try a new recipe on Saturday.  THANKS!

[Gammamel]

I agree that the crockpot works very well for cooking dried beans.  Another trick is to soak them overnight before cooking.  If you soak them, then drain and rinse them, it also helps get rid of the enzymes that cause gas.