Meal Monday
Despite the appalling wastefulness, I nearly threw them out – the three bags of Hambeen's Cajun 15 Bean Soup that my toddler had snuck into our grocery cart. You can picture them – they have an "As Seen On TV"-like star on the bag that says "High Fiber, Low Fat." I love beans, I love soup, and as I’ve said before, I love one-pot dishes. But I was certain I could do nothing with these, intimidated as I was by a bad experience with a dried bean recipe and, well, the Cajun flavor packet. Really, it was the flavor packet. It scared me and made me feel boxed in at the same time, making me feel as if I had to use it (which of course I didn't!), and when I did, was going to tell my foodie friends that I didn’t know how to make a Cajun soup and so used this nasty dried excuse for flavor instead.
(It should be noted that this soup is actually one of their best sellers, according to the company's blog.)
And then the beans became the only dinner option we had after six days of homebound, grocery-store-free living during Snowpocalypse. Knowing I'd never cook them, my husband took over while I slipped to the local coffee shop to work a bit. And I came home to one of the best one-post meals I have had in ages.
It was loaded with nutrition (it really does have FIFTEEN different kinds of beans in it, including garbanzo and peas), had more layers of flavor than most one-pot dishes, and was surprisingly rich.
The following recipe is an approximation of what he made, as my husband didn't know he was essentially testing a recipe for this blog. But I made it again tonight and it was pretty tasty.
Recipe for 15 Bean Soup (Serves many, many people! At least 8)
Ingredients:
1 bag of Hambeen’s (or similar) Cajun 15 bean soup
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups carrots, sliced
1 bunch of celery, chopped
2 cups turkey kielbasa, sliced
2 tablespoons coriander
2 tablespoons dried cumin
Salt to taste
½ (or less) of the flavor packet
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
8 0z prepared salsa
Water
Oil
Preparation:
1. On the day before, or early in the AM: Put beans in a large pot and cover with 2 quarts of water. Leave the beans to soak overnight, or at least 8 hours.
2. Drain the water from the beans, using a colander. Put the beans aside.
3. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in the pot over medium heat. Put in onions, garlic and kielbasa. Stir occasionally and cook over medium heat until the onions are tender, 5-8 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for an additional 5-8 minutes.
5. Add beans, 2 quarts of water, tomatoes, salsa, all spices and ½ of flavor packet.
6. Checking and stirring occasionally, cook for at least 2 hours.
7. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.
Tip: I couldn't eat the kielbasa when eating the soup. I found it rubbery and removed it. But it's essential to the flavor outcome.
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