Soups are a perfect meal for chilly winter nights. For me making soup is almost as comforting as eating it, and nothing can beat a bowl of homemade soup on a cold winter- y night. And today I am sharing with you one of my absolute favorite soups – veggie white bean soup. This is a wonderful, tasty soup that is easy to make, creamy, and delicious. It’s my winter-day-warm-me-up hearty soup recipe, very chunky and tastes more like a stew.
RECIPE DETAIL – White northern beans are simmered with mild spices and flavored with homemade salsa. In this recipe white northern beans can be substituted with black eyed beans. Besides the soaking time (prep time), this soup is fairly easy to make, most of the time is used up in the preparation rather than cooking. This delicious one-pot meal is a staple in my house- a very easy to pull together recipe.
After the beans are boiled, from there on the recipe is fairly easy to follow. Saute onion, garlic paste along with cooked beans and spices, add water and let it simmer for 20 – 25 minutes. Need to add extra water to the soup, try substituting it with chicken broth. You can use all sorts of combinations – veggies, chicken shreds or tofu, it will add extra protein and loads of flavor. No oregano in the pantry try to flavor it with some chopped fresh parsley or cilantro.
Store -bought canned beans can be used to save some time. Drain the liquid, wash thoroughly and use it for this recipe.
Secret to a thick creamy soup – cover and allow the soup to simmer on a low flame. Simmering not only brings out the flavor in soup, it also tastes better and better. Adding salsa to this soup makes it absolutely delicious and I have to add that all the flavors blends wonderfully. Homemade salsa recipe shown below, store bought salsa can be used instead. Adding homemade tomato puree to salsa adds that rich red color to the soup.
What a wonderful ending for a cold, winter day. Utterly delicious and easy to make soup with lots of flavor.
Veggie White Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
SOUP INGREDEINTS
- 2 cups Northern beans or Black eyed beans
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon Garlic paste
- 1 medium Green chili, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon Red chili powder or Paprika
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Shredded cheese - for garnish
- 1 - 2 tablespoon Chopped cilantro leaves - to garnish
HOMEMADE SALSA
- 1 tablespoon Chopped Onions
- 1 medium Tomato, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Homemade tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 small Chopped green chili
- Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Clean, wash and soak beans overnight.
- In the morning drain water, rinse the beans again and pressure cook it for 8-10 whistles.
- Fully cooked beans will look like these.
- Set it aside.
- Assemble all the ingredients.
- Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions, garlic paste and saute for a minute.
- Stir in chopped green chilies and saute for another minute, add beans..
- Add all the spices and mix.
- Bring it to a boil, cover and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Meanwhile let's gather ingredients for homemade salsa. If using store bought salsa skip these steps.
- Toss everything in a food processor and grind it to a chunkier paste. Do not puree it.
- To the boiling soup, add salsa, mix and using a potato masher gently mash some beans. This will thicken up the soup.
- Allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. If the soup appears to be too thick add more water.
- Bean soup is ready to serve.
- Garnish it with shredded cheese and cilantro..
- Serve hot and...
- Enjoy !!
