Recipe: Red Bean & Chickpea Soup
Hello fellow warriors!
This recipe was inspired by a bean salad, which consisted of kidney beans, corn, and chickpeas. I was thinking of how to have a delicious, Thiocyanate filled, healthy meal, and I came up with this. The first time I made it, it came out amazing! It’s pretty easy to make, and it’s yummy. I usually have this with a side of white rice, and you can add any other wonderful vegetables that you can think of: roasted sweet potatoes, baked sweet plantains, yams, yucca, you name it, they’d all go well with this dish!
Ingredients
½ Cup of Red Beans
½ Cup of Chickpeas
1 large onion, sliced
3 Stalks of Scallions, sliced
5 Medium-Large Carrots, thinly sliced
Salt to taste (preferably sea salt! Read about it here: http://readynutrition.com/resources/10-health-benefits-of-sea-salt_15092011/ )
½ teaspoon of brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Water
Oil
Large Pot
Prep Time: 2-2 ½ Hours
*Sort, rinse, and then soak ½ cup of red beans and ½ cup of chickpeas in cold water for at least 24 hours in your fridge. Soaking the beans beforehand will allow them to cook more quickly once you put them on the stove. The beans should be nice and plump from being soaked before cooking them, and once cooked, they should simply melt in your mouth. The beans can be soaked together in the same container.
1. Preheat your oil in your pot (make sure that all the water is dried before adding the oil so it doesn’t pop at you!). Sautée your sliced onions and your sliced scallions in the oil until the onions and scallions are tender and start browning. This will help release their delicious flavors, and gives you a nice base with which to begin your soup. Add a sprinkle or two of salt during this step (go lightly, especially if you are using sea salt! The salt will help the onion to release its juices as it sautées).
2. Once the onion and scallions are done sautéing and have started to get a touch of brown, add your red beans, your chickpeas, and your carrots to this scrumptious mix. Also add the baking soda. This will help your beans to cook faster. Be sure to discard the water in which your beans were soaking. Use enough water to cover the mixture of beans in your pot. Allow the mixture to come to a boil on your stove.
3. Taste the soup, and add salt if you wish. At this point, you can add your ½ teaspoon of brown sugar. The soup should be slightly sweet from the onions and the carrots. Cover your soup, and lower the fire to a medium flame. Allow the soup to simmer on this flame checking every 15-20 minutes the consistency of your soup. The beans should take about an hour and a half to two hours to soften and cook, depending on how long you have soaked your beans beforehand. Be sure to add more water as necessary. Make sure to always have the water level cover the beans. If you want a thinner soup, add more water above the level where the beans are covered. If you want a thicker soup, just make sure the beans remained covered in water, and a tad bit more than that. There should be about a half an inch of water covering the beans while they are cooking. Test the consistency of your beans after about an hour. If the beans are soft, allow them to cook for about 30 minutes more on a very low flame. If not, keep the flame at medium until they are nice and soft, then lower the flame and simmer for 20 minutes more.
4. Voilà, you now have your Red Beans and Chickpeas Soup! Serve with a side of parboiled or brown rice, along with some tasty veggies, and rest easy knowing that you are eating a delicious meal that is helping support your health! Bon appétit!
