FABULOUS WHITE BEAN SOUP
My husband loves Navy bean soup. I didn't have dried or canned Navy beans but I did have canned Great Northern beans which acted as a great substitute. The spice combination was perfect!
The original recipe which uses dried beans and a crock pot can be found at “Just What We Eat” blog: White Bean Soup – Gluten Free & Vegan
Mirepoix ratio is classically 50% onion, 25% carrots, 25% celery. Here is how to pronounce mirepoix: Mirepoix
What are "white beans" and how are the different? Here is a blog article by the bean brand “Camellia” explaining: 4 Types of White Beans: What’s the Difference?
If you have high blood pressure or are African American the recommended maximum added salt per day is actually 1500mg (about 3/4th teaspoon). It is not usually necessary to add salt to your diet because most people can get enough sodium if eating natural plant-based foods. We add salt to enhance the flavor of our food which is typically fine if use is not excessive. If you need to lower your sodium you can purchase salt-free broth, cook your own beans without salt, or buy salt-free canned beans. Here is some information from the FDA about sodium: Sodium in Your Diet
I recently made "Delicious Kidney Bean Soup.” I made both soups 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.
What I did differently:
-My medium sweet onion, after dicing, measured 1 3/4 cup
-My cloves of garlic were large
-Used 5 cups of prepared broth. I used part reduced-sodium vegetable broth and part prepared Orrington Farms Vegan Ham Broth Base. My husband is not vegan so likes some meat flavor to his beans but it is higher in salt. If you want even less salt, you can buy sodium free vegetable broth.
-Since I did not have dried navy beans, I used 4 (15 oz) cans of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed. Rinsing removes some salt but not all of it. To reduce salt further you can use unsalted beans.
-I like smaller pieces of dried rosemary so pulsed mine in a high speed blender before measuring
-Added 2 bay leaves
-Did not add extra salt
-I cooked mine on the stove. In a Dutch oven pot, dry sautéed the mirepoix (onion, carrots, celery) over medium heat, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes. Added a splash of water when vegetables wanted to stick. Added the garlic and sauteed for 1-2 minutes. Added the spices and stirred until fragrant, about a minute. Added the beans and broth. 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. Added 1/2 of a 16 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach. Simmered until all warmed.
-Served it with Banana Corn Fritters
