This week I decided to make 15 bean soup. I used the recipes at http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,134176-250196,00.html , http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/04/crockpot-16-bean-soup-recipe.html , http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotsoup/r/bl58c12.htm as guidelines, but then kinda did my own thing. Also, even though, I didn't label this vegetarian, the only meat stuff is the chicken stock which could easily be replaced with vegetable stock or water.
Ingredients:
1/2 package 15 bean soup mix
2.5 carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 dashes each of basil, oregano, garlic powder
1 dash onion powder
water
So I bought the beans in the morning which means that I didn't have time to let them soak overnight. Instead I vaguely followed the directions for "quick soak" on the package. This calls for you to bring to boil, then simmer for 60-90 minutes. Since I planned on cooking for 10 or so hours, I did the simmer part for about 30 minutes instead. This is also important because there are kidney beans in the mix, and they need to be boiled for a bit before they are safe to eat.
While the beans were simmering, I added a the carrots (mine were sliced and frozen a while ago), celery (also frozen but I needed to chop), and onion. I was going to add a full onion until I realized that I had half an onion in the fridge. I decided it would be better to use that than a full onion, particularly as I am using half the mix and the recipes call for one onion for the full mix. I then added the chicken stock (read: water and granules). The union of the recipes called for the basil and oregano and bay leaf, which sounded good, so I added some. Some of the recipes called for garlic, but I didn't want to chop any at the time so I went with garlic powder. While putting away the other spices, I saw my new onion powder and decided to add it. I was only going to add one dash anyway, but it poured out a lot in that one dash, so that there is probably more of that than the others. So, oops, but I like onions enough that it should be ok.
After 30 minutes of simmering the beans, I drained, rinsed, and added to the slow cooker (2 quart). The water had turned black, so I was very happy not to have skipped this soaking step. I then added enough water to cover the beans and a bit more (I filled to about an inch from the top). I stirred everything together, then I set to low for 10 hours.
I had this for dinner tonight. Despite the added spices, it was fairly bland. However this wasn't bad. It meant that I could taste the difference between some of the different beans. The differences were subtle enough that I might have missed them with more flavor. Also, I noticed that the carrots had pretty much fallen apart. I don't know if the cook time, freezing, or combination of these is to blame, but as I was still getting vegetables, I was fine with this as well.
Edit: Most recipes call for salt with the beans, but it's one of those things I tend to forget about. So, when I last reheated some of this, I added salt. It turns out this was exactly what it was missing. The flavor was a lot more intense and it tasted better overall.
Ingredients:
1/2 package 15 bean soup mix
2.5 carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 dashes each of basil, oregano, garlic powder
1 dash onion powder
water
So I bought the beans in the morning which means that I didn't have time to let them soak overnight. Instead I vaguely followed the directions for "quick soak" on the package. This calls for you to bring to boil, then simmer for 60-90 minutes. Since I planned on cooking for 10 or so hours, I did the simmer part for about 30 minutes instead. This is also important because there are kidney beans in the mix, and they need to be boiled for a bit before they are safe to eat.
While the beans were simmering, I added a the carrots (mine were sliced and frozen a while ago), celery (also frozen but I needed to chop), and onion. I was going to add a full onion until I realized that I had half an onion in the fridge. I decided it would be better to use that than a full onion, particularly as I am using half the mix and the recipes call for one onion for the full mix. I then added the chicken stock (read: water and granules). The union of the recipes called for the basil and oregano and bay leaf, which sounded good, so I added some. Some of the recipes called for garlic, but I didn't want to chop any at the time so I went with garlic powder. While putting away the other spices, I saw my new onion powder and decided to add it. I was only going to add one dash anyway, but it poured out a lot in that one dash, so that there is probably more of that than the others. So, oops, but I like onions enough that it should be ok.
After 30 minutes of simmering the beans, I drained, rinsed, and added to the slow cooker (2 quart). The water had turned black, so I was very happy not to have skipped this soaking step. I then added enough water to cover the beans and a bit more (I filled to about an inch from the top). I stirred everything together, then I set to low for 10 hours.
I had this for dinner tonight. Despite the added spices, it was fairly bland. However this wasn't bad. It meant that I could taste the difference between some of the different beans. The differences were subtle enough that I might have missed them with more flavor. Also, I noticed that the carrots had pretty much fallen apart. I don't know if the cook time, freezing, or combination of these is to blame, but as I was still getting vegetables, I was fine with this as well.
Edit: Most recipes call for salt with the beans, but it's one of those things I tend to forget about. So, when I last reheated some of this, I added salt. It turns out this was exactly what it was missing. The flavor was a lot more intense and it tasted better overall.
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