Vegetarian Mixed Bean Soup

We’ve been having cold, wet and nasty weather and DH and I have been “under the weather” (get it? cold nasty wet, never mind) so our appetites have been a bit off and yet you are hungry despite it all. So I was looking for a sort of all in one kinda meal which would go down easy, be tasty and wouldn’t be a big fuss. I’ve been wanting to try to make a mixed bean and grain type of soup for awhile and I figured this was the perfect time. I actually had purchased a bunch of stuff and without further ado, decided to throw it all in a pot.

I used a full package of red lentils, since I’ve discovered that they thicken the soup dramatically just by cooking them and with no additional flour or thickener you get this lovely pureed like consistency. But I wanted a bit more heft to it. So, rubbing my hands together like an evil alchemist, I opened my cupboards and tossed in all kind of goodies. So start with your red (more like orange in color btw) lentils and rinse them and pick through them. Fair warning, if you let them sit a bit, they clump into a mass and then you have to break them up with your hands. So, rinse and stir.

Then, peel and roughly chop some carrots and onions and set aside.

Remember, these will be cooking about 2 hours worth so they sort of meld into the soup, the carrot becomes very soft but still present and the onion gets soft and sweet (not too, no worries).

Next, I tossed in barley, a can of drained and rinsed black beans, a can of baked beans with the sauce! that’s part of the flavor quotient, and the salt and fried onion and a crushed clove of garlic.

Then add the water, carrots and onions and stir and put on a medium flame to start the cooking. All you have to do now is stir the pot, from the bottom, from time to time. The lentils get that thick almost sludgy consistency so you have to make sure to come by and give a good scrape and stir from the bottom to prevent them sticking and burning but that’s the whole thing. It will take between an hour and a half to two hours but I like the longer cooking since the vegetables have a chance to change into a soft and delicious part of the soup that way.

Here you see the soup burbling away. I was very tempted to add water towards the end (in the beginning if it get too thick add a cup or two of water) but didn’t do it since the thick creaminess would’ve been lessened and I’m glad I didn’t. Two pathetic and “under the weather” people looked into their bowls, gobbled it up and decided to have just a bit more. Nuff said.

You can practically stand your spoon up in this thick and creamy soup. It sticks to your ribs and with a nice wholegrain roll, Rye and Oat Rolls you have a full meal.

Vegetarian Mixed Bean Soup

2 3/4 cups red lentils (500 grams), washed and picked through
1 cup barley, rinsed
1 16 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16 ounce can baked beans with their juice, do not drain
2 flat tablespoons salt
1 chopped fried onion Or one small onion, chopped in addition to the other 2 onions *
2 carrots peeled and chopped roughly
2 onions peeled and chopped roughly
1 crushed clove garlic
1/8 cup vegetable oil
10-12 cups water

A note before starting. This makes a ginormous amount. You could always make less but don’t. It freezes beautifully and also keeps for more than a week in the fridge. You can just zap a cup or two in the microwave instead of heating up a whole pot and you’re good to go. So, I think it’s worth making the big amount. Just saying.

Directions:

• If you don’t have prepared fried onions https://kosherfromjerusalem.com/2019/12/17/basic-sauteed-onions-a-kitchen-staple/ then take the small onion you chopped and begin the soup with the oil and sautee the onion in the oil till dark yellow, not longer. Then continue.
• Put the lentils, barley, black beans, baked beans, salt, crushed garlic, carrot, onion (yes, second time onion) oil if you didn’t already put it in to fry the onion, and the water. This goes into a large stockpot able to hold 12 cups of water with ingredients.
• Stir well and bring to the boil and lower to medium heat, stirring from time to time. Keep an eye on it since the lentils break down into a thick almost sludgy consistency and you don’t want them to stick and burn. Cook for two hours until the whole soup is thick and creamy. Serve with a wholegrain roll for a full and satisfying meal. (Roll recipe to come 😉 )