I couldn’t make lunch with my friend 😦 so I made soup. I had a mixed bag of legumes from my local Italian specialty store, but feel free to mix and match from the pantry. Use what you got – beans, barley, lentils, they all play nice.
And give yourself plenty of lead time. Beans sit on the shelf a while, sometimes years. I cooked this soup three hours and it could have gone longer. It freezes well too.
If you want some extra thickness, purée 2-3 cups and stir back in the pot. We were big babies as kids and refused beans with skin. My mother puréed the whole – baby food for her babies.
1 big onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 parsnips, chopped
2 stalks of celery (or the heart!), chopped
3-4 nuggets garlic, chopped
15 oz can Diced tomatoes
Veg or olive oil
2 bay leaves
Salt & pepper
In large heavy soup pot, warm 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, parsnips and celery. Season with salt & pepper. Soften 5-8 minutes. Add garlic, cook 2-ish minutes. Add tomatoes, bean mix, bay leaves and 6 cups of water. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer 2-3 hours. Add 2 or more cups of water as it gets absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.
Note: most of my salting takes place at the end with this soup. Don’t eat bay leaves.
Eat – B
Posted by Betsy 
I Am Not A Restaurant! 