Beanbag Soup

I'm making "beanbag soup" (a title I've taken from Emilie Barnes's The Twelve Teas of Christmas) for dinner tonight and for several dinners after by combining a cup or two of several selections from my bean stash in a big container. Later, I'll cook a couple of cups of the mixture with carrots, celery, onion, carrot, maybe tomatoes, always garlic, sometimes lemon juice, a variety of herbs like bay leaf and parsley to make a wonderful winter soup. The beans are:

• black beans
• pinto beans
• red kidney beans
• brown lentils
• "autumn" lentils, or a colorful mix of French puy, yellow dal, and red lentils
• Corona/runner sweet white beans
• Christmas lima beans (or any other lima)
• pearl barley
• Great Northern (or navy or cannellini)
• Swedish brown beans (this is the only one I'm not sure about in a soup)
• Vaquero beans (spotted, like Jacob's Cattle)
• yellow or green split peas (I have to go to the store to get these, the only one I didn't have)

That's 12, my favorite number, though 4 shy of the traditional* "16 bean." Oh, twelve is a better number for Christmas anyway. (And believe it or not, that still means lots of my beans didn't make it in the mix!)

By the way, if you'd like some of my beanbag soup mix, just ask!

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Update: you'll notice from the pictures that I altered the beans a bit, only because I liked the colors and/or size--I used both yellow and green split peas and small navy instead of Great Northern. Which takes us to 13 instead of 12, which is fine because it's Mama's favorite number.

*For the record, Goya's 16 Bean soup includes: pinto, small red, pink, red kidney, Great Northern, baby lima, large lima, blackeye, small white, black, whole green peas, yellow split, green split, lentils, chickpeas, pearl barley.

Hmmm, chickpeas. I have chickpeas. I'm going to add some of those, too. 14. Oh, well, don't know whose number that is.

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Jamie’s Beanbag Soup Recipe

2 cups mixed dried beans

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

Soak dried beans in 6 cups lightly salted water overnight OR boil beans in 6 cups water for 2 minutes and simmer on low for an hour. DO NOT DRAIN.  In olive oil, sauté onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.  Add beans with their liquid to pot with sauteed vegetables and also bay leaf.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 ½-2 hours. 

Optional:  To bulk up the bean soup, you can: 

•                    add spinach or kale (or other greens), fresh or frozen, along with carrots, celery, and onions

•                    add ¾ cup dried macaroni (or orzo) when beans are almost done

•                    make the soup with ½ the beans (1 cup or so) and add a variety of vegetables like green beans, corn, and potatoes for a vegetable soup

Italian version:  Add 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning with the salt and pepper.  Later, when beans are almost done, add 1 can diced tomatoes.   

French version:  Use Herbes de Provence with salt and pepper.

Slow Cooker directions:  Place presoaked beans and soaking liquid in 6-quart slow cooker.  Sauté  onions, carrots, celery, seasonings, and garlic in olive oil.  Add these, plus bay leaf and optional vegetables except tomatoes, to slow cooker.  Cook on LOW 6-8 hours, adding tomatoes or other acids and/or pasta in last hour.