EASY LEMON ROSEMARY WHITE BEAN SOUP

This soup is so delicious! The tahini and lemon flavors knock it out of the ball park. My husband and I could not resist having second helpings. The "easy" part of this recipe is that it uses canned beans. I wanted to use up some dried beans so made mine the old fashion way.

The recipe can be found at the recipe blog “The Simple Veganista”: EASY LEMON ROSEMARY WHITE BEAN SOUP

Are canned beans as good as home cooked beans? Listen to this 2 minute video by Dr. Greger:

Canned Beans or Cooked Beans?

I only use canned foods that are labeled as BPA free. Read this short WebMD article about the potential hazards of BPA:

The Facts About Bisphenol A

EASY LEMON ROSEMARY WHITE BEAN SOUP

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil or ¼ cup water (I did not use oil. Added only a splash of water whenever vegetables wanted to stick)

1 small onion, diced (for me was 1 heaping cup)

3 large carrots, sliced or diced (for me was 1 1/3 heaping cup)

2 stalks celery, sliced (mine was 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 4 cloves)

1/2 teaspoon EACH dried thyme + rosemary (I used 1 teaspoon of EACH)

3 cans (15oz) white beans (cannellini, great northern or chickpeas), drained and rinsed (I used 2 cups dried beans)

4 – 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth (since I used dried beans, I used 5 cups broth and 4 cups water)

2 Tablespoons tahini

1 – 2 lemons, juice of 1 lemon into the soup and the other lemon is for squeezing if desired into individual bowls (I put 2 TBSP into the soup and squeezed extra into my bowl)

salt + pepper to taste (I did not add salt to the pot-my husband added some to his own bowl)

fresh chopped parsley, to serve (I didn’t use)

pinch red pepper flakes, to serve (I used)

I added 2 large handfuls of baby spinach, stems removed

Instructions from blog

1. Saute: In a large pot, heat oil or water over medium heat, add onion, carrots, and celery, sauté for 7 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and rosemary and cook 1 minute more.

2. Simmer: Add the white beans, vegetable broth, tahini, and salt + pepper, give a good stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover askew, and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add lemon: Remove from heat, add lemon juice and let cool a bit before serving. The broth will thicken upon standing. Season with more salt, pepper or herbs as desired.

4. Serve in individual bowls with fresh parsley and squeeze of lemon. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for a little heat.

How I cooked mine using dried beans

1. Soaked 2 cups of dried butter beans overnight in water. Drained the water the following morning.

2. Dry sautéed the vegetables until softened adding just a splash of water whenever they wanted to stick. Stirred continuously.

3. Added the dried beans, water, and vegetable stock and simmered on low, covered, for 2 hrs 15 minutes until the beans were soft.

4. Pureed about 8 ladlefuls in my blender then placed back into the pot.

5. Added tahini and pepper. Simmered on low 10 minutes, cover askew.

6. Removed from heat. Added spinach and lemon juice. Stirred and let spinach wilt.