DELICIOUS RED KIDNEY BEAN SOUP
I recently made "Fabulous White Bean Soup.” I made this new soup so people can see how easy it is to make a few changes and get a totally different and delicious soup. See my PowerPoint slide at the end of the pictures to see the similarities between these two soups. Once you understand the basic concept of making your own soup it becomes much easier to throw a quick meal together.
What are bay leaves and can you eat them? This “Healthline” article has the answers: Can You Eat Bay Leaves?
Initially I did not add spinach but the next day when having leftovers I added some frozen chopped spinach.
DELICIOUS RED KIDNEY BEAN SOUP
Ingredients
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 (15.5 oz) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups vegetable broth (mine was vegan Ham flavored)
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (could substitute with a 15 oz can diced tomatoes)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon dried parsley
2 bay leaves
What I did:
Chopped the onion, carrots, and celery in a food processor to save time.
In a Dutch oven or stock pot, dry sautéed the mirepoix (onion, carrots, celery) over medium heat, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes. Added a splash of water if vegetables wanted to stick.
Added the garlic and sautéed for 1 minute.
Added the beans and broth.
Added the tomatoes.
Added the spices.
Once simmering, reduced heat to low, covered, and cooked for about 1 hour stirring occasionally.
Removed the bay leaves.
Used an immersion blender to blend about half of the soup to make it creamy (if you don't have an immersion blender could carefully remove some soup and use a regular blender or could use a potato masher and mash some of the beans).
I wanted to add frozen okra but did not have any. The next day when making leftovers I added some frozen spinach.
