Ever since I bought a “clean eating” cookbook, I’ve really been interested in the concept. (As well as the local and slow food movements, despite how nothing grows around here from October to May, but that’s a thought process I’ll develop more later.) I especially like how this particular cookbook is set up by season, especially since some fruits and vegetables can only be found in any semblance of quality during certain times of the year. In the winter section, a “New Years Soup” caught my eye – apparently having greens with black-eyed peas is supposed to bring you good luck. I ended up changing some of the ingredients based on what I had on hand and what I could find.
Did you know that I had no idea what collard greens were before reading this cookbook? I had only heard of them in the Veggie Tales introduction. I guess that means I’m not from the southern states. 😛
This soup is hearty, warm and very filling. Perfect for the cool weather (-15 C to -25 C or 5 F to -13 F) we’ve had this week!
Clean Eating Bean Soup
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 parsnips, sliced
3 – 5 carrots, sliced
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 bunch or handful of greens, chopped (collard greens, spinach, etc. I left this out as cooked spinach doesn’t agree with Mr. Bean and I couldn’t find any collard greens)
3 c. white beans* or black-eyed peas, cooked
Dried basil
4 – 5 c. vegetable broth
1/2 – 2/3 c. uncooked quinoa, rinsed
Salt and Pepper
Grated parmesan cheese
- Heat oil in a soup pot. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft.
- Add carrots, parsnips and zucchini and sauté for 3+ minutes.
- Add greens, beans and basil. Stir.
- Pour in vegetable broth. (add more liquid with larger amount of quinoa depending on how much liquid you like in your soup.) Bring soup to a boil.
- Once soup is boiling, bring to a simmer. Add the quinoa.
- Cook the soup until the vegetables are tender and quinoa is done (it is done when little “rings” are coming off the quinoa and it is no longer crunchy.)
- Turn off the heat and let it sit for about five minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve soup in bowls and top with parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Enjoy!
Add some red pepper flakes and wait for the cheese to melt for extra delicious-ness!
What is your favourite cold weather food?
Mine is soup and biscuits, but this definitely ranks up there!
Added to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Gluten Free Wednesdays recipe link ups. Check them out!
*I used dried beans. Ideally I would have soaked them over night in cold water, but I forgot, so covered 1 1/2 c. dried beans with water and brought it to a boil. Then I let it simmer with the lid on until the beans had grown in size and were barely covered by the water. I then dumped the water, added more and repeated until the beans were soft. I had to step out, so I brought the beans up to a boil, let them boil for a few minutes, turned off the element and let them sit in the pot (make sure the lid is on!) With that, I was able to rehydrate the beans in about 4 hours.
Without Adornment 