{"id":354,"date":"2011-03-20T23:28:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2011-03-20T23:28:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-20T23:28:00","slug":"souper-bean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/?p=354","title":{"rendered":"Souper Bean"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>The Facts<\/span>
1 CUP OF BLACK BEANS<\/b><\/u>
60% of daily fiber needs
15 g of protein (40 g total daily)
20% of daily iron needs
227 calories
0 cholesterol and 0 sugar
40 cents for canned beans, 10 cents for raw bagged version <\/p>\n

The truth is, black beans are amazing for a healthy diet, full of thiamin, magnesium, phosphorus and folate. And, if you keep the sodium low, you can add lots of flavor and life to a pretty awesome bean. I had a bean party the other night and made (surprise!) two gallons of bean soup. Heh, I didn’t mean to, but now I have bean soup for the rest of my life…or the next month or 2. I’ve adapted it to 1 gallon (enough to fit in my 4-quart crock pot). Here’s how it went:<\/p>\n

<\/a>SOUPER BEAN PARTY
Makes 4 quarts, or 8 entree servings<\/p>\n

8 oz dry black beans, rinsed and separated
4 oz green lentils, rinsed
4 oz white beans, rinsed
6 oz black eyed peas, rinsed
4 oz of another bean of your choosing (kidney, lima, navy…I used split green peas)
2-3 quarts of reduced sodium organic stock (chicken, vegetable, or beef)
1\/2 teaspoonful sea salt, more to taste (smoked salt, if you have it)
olive oil
1 large onion
red pepper flakes, garlic powder, smoked paprika, jalapeno (optional)
\\\\\\\\\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Directions:
Put all of the raw beans in a stock pot and cover with cool water (leave 2 inches of water above the beans). Let sit, uncovered, for 1 hour to soak.<\/p>\n

After the hour, strain out water and fill pot again with same amount of water (or part water-part stock if you’re feeling fancy). Boil on medium high for 15 minutes or so, checking to see if the beans are a little soft and cooked. (Don’t overcook…they will cook more in the crock later.)<\/p>\n

Strain beans from water and transfer to your crock pot, setting it on high heat. Add one quart of the stock. Cover and let simmer.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, drizzle a little olive oil (1 t.)\u00a0 in a pan and saute the chopped onion. I like to saute it just enough to brown the edges but not enough to make the onions limp and greasy. Throw those in the crock pot. **Disclaimer…this is your opp to throw in anything that you don’t like to eat every day but that every health guru\/nutritionist\/Jillian Michaels says you should eat.<\/i> This includes kale, spinach, broccoli, corn, roasted red pepper, bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, leeks, and other such rabbit foods. I would saute those for a couple of minutes, depending on the crunch you want, then throw them in the crock.***<\/p>\n

Okay, back to the soupiness. At this point, add the second quart of stock and add the spices of your choosing. I used red pepper flakes, the amazing alderwood smoked sea salt from Whole Foods, garlic cloves (3), garlic powder (redundant), a little Cavender’s, and a smile. Then I walked away from the crock, covered, and let it do its thing. While waiting, I went to Target and picked up a few things, did some homework, and did some laundry. <\/p>\n

Ah, the joy of the crock pot…no babysitting necessary. If I told you I stirred it every 10 minutes to keep the flavors blending, I would be lying. I came back in two hours. Yes, two hours.<\/p>\n

Matt & I found our big red ladle, scooped up 2 cups of soup in each bowl, and he topped his with smoked swiss slices and smoked paprika. Mm, mm, good.<\/p>\n

So that, my friends, is why soup is awesome. It is easy, you can leave it alone for a long while, and it always tastes better on the second or third day (yay for leftovers!). Don’t stress out, it’s just bean soup.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

EXTRAS:
*Serve it on brown rice or even a whole grain pasta, like bowtie, if you’re feeling super fancy.
*TOTAL COST: $10 (That’s 8 meals for $10!!) EVEN BETTER, you have enough beans left over for a 2nd batch!
*This soup is as creative as you, so throw in produce that needs to be eaten soon, frozen veggies that you’ve been meaning to cook, and maybe a meat or tofu that were from a leftover.
*This soup freezes well…I put it in 2 cup containers (for lunch) or pint containers (dinner for 2) for easier storage and quick grabs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

~Laurel~<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Facts1 CUP OF BLACK BEANS60% of daily fiber needs15 g of protein (40 g total daily)20% of daily iron needs 227 calories0 cholesterol and 0 sugar40 cents for canned beans, 10 cents for raw bagged version The truth is, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[61,90],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-beans","tag-soup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memoirmunchies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}