Saturday, September 3, 2011

CSA Veggies and Super Easy Veggie and Bean Soup

We got another CSA box. I never check online to see what we’ll be getting, and it’s always so much fun to open it!


The other day, I was in the mood for some soup (despite it being quite warm around here) and had planned to make my mom’s lentil soup. Unfortunately, I realized that I didn’t have lentils, so I used TJ’s 17 Bean and Barley Mix instead of lentils.



The mix comes complete with a recipe. I adjusted the recipe and used what I had around, and it turned out great. I think you can add any veggies you have around and like, and there are many seasonings I can imagine playing with.



We really enjoyed the mixture of different beans with the different tastes and textures.

 
Bean and Veggie Soup

Ingredients
  • Trader Joe’s 17 Bean and Barley Mix
  • 1 Carton Low Sodium Veggie Broth
  • 4 cups water (may need more)
  • 6 celery stalks, sliced
  • 5 carrots, sliced
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 leeks, cut in half and sliced
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste
  • 3 frozen basil cubes
  • 3 frozen cilantro cubes
  • Organic ketchup, a couple tablespoons, to taste
  • Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Blend, to taste
Directions
  1. Soak bean mixture. [The package suggests over night, but I only soaked them for about 5 hours, and it worked out fine.]
  2. Rinse beans, add the veggie stock, 2 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Then lower heat to a gentle boil.
  3. Spray a skillet with some oil and sauté the veggies for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper, 21 Seasoning Blend, basil, cilantro, and ketchup.
  4. Add veggies to bean pot.
  5. Cook soup for about 1 hour, until beans are the desired tenderness. Check liquid frequently and add more as needed. [Our soup was quite thick; you may want to add a lot more liquid if you like a thinner soup. Ours was really more of a stew.]
Cook Time: 1 hour [plus 5 hours + to soak beans]
Servings: 8 dinner-sized servings

 
Questions: What fall veggies and/or fruits are you looking forward to the most? I’ve been seeing pumpkin everywhere, and we almost picked up some pumpkin ale. I’m really looking forward to more pumpkins everywhere! The toddler even already got his Halloween costume!

Be well,
Andrea