Joan’s Bean soup
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Why I Love This Recipe
Mother in law's bean soup
Ingredients You'll Need
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup shopped celery
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp chopped basil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 chopped carrot (can leave out)
1 med can tomatoes
2 jalapenos
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Directions
Rinse 2 cups mixed dried beans, peas, lentils then soak overnight in water to cover. Simmer for 1 hour in 3 quarts of water (or to cover). Add all ingredients - simmer 2 more hours.
My notes: you can add more onion, celery or any other vegs and of course all the seasoning you want. I throw in Tabasco sauce, chili powder or whatever. You can chop up jalapeno peppers and add those. Experiment and have fun. And adjust seasoning to your taste. The original recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of olive oil and Parmesan cheese to be added at the end of cooking. I use neither and it is fine.
The most important thing is to soak the beans overnight and then be sure to cook them for the full 3 hours so they are soft. What you will see happen is the lentils completely ‘open’ up and become a mush. However, if you like a bit of a crunch then they don’t have to be so cooked. But crunchy beans usually mean ‘not cooked’.
(The reason you rinse beans and rice is because if any of them float to the top, it usually means they are hollow because a bug got into them so they must be thrown out. Also if there are dead bugs in the beans (rarely if ever happens) they will float to the top and need to be removed. Don’t let that put you off!)