Bean Soup Recipes

Bean soup recipes are my favorite way to eat beans. With a soup, you can add kombu and spices that help you digest the beans. You can easily add vegetables to make almost a complete meal. Just add a salad and a piece of bread and you have a hearty meal.

I've included peas here, too. Since dried beans, peas and legumes cook in the same way.

The first recipe uses a pressure cooker. I use a Kuhn Rikkon pressure cooker and I love it. It's easy to use and safe. It's from Switzerland. Check it out as Amazon.com; the Kuhn Rikkon gets good reviews.

Using a pressure cooker can cut down the cooking time a bit, and some cooks say it cooks the beans more thoroughly and helps with their digestion. I'm still deciding.

I use both the pressure cooker method and simmering in a soup pot for my bean soup recipes. The energy of a pressure cooker, with the high heat, seems too intense to use all the time. The simmering soup has a gentler energy. I think using a variety of cooking methods is healthy.

I use spices to help digestion, like ginger, garlic, and turmeric. You could also use black pepper, cumin, cayenne, cardamom and other spices.

Here's the recipes:

Bean Soup Recipes #1

Black Eyed Pea Soup

3/4 cup peas

1/2 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 kombu squares (about 1 inch each)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

water to cover all ingredients by 2 inches

Put the peas, spices and vegies in the pressure cooker, cover with water by 2 inches. close the lid, bring to pressure over medium or high heat. When its up in pressure, turn to low. put on a heat tamer, and cook 45 minutes. Then bring down the pressure naturally, (takes 10 minutes or so), open the pot and add salt to taste. Drizzle with oilve oil and lemon juice to taste.

Bean soup recipes #2

Aduki Bean Stew

1/2 cup aduki beans, soaked overnight and discard soaking water

2 dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked 30 minutes, or use 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 large white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp ginger juice

1-2 stalks celery

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups pure water

1/2 cup corn (optional)

wakame, 1-2 pieces

Layer in a soup pot: adukis, onion, carrots, celery, shiitakes, wakame and water

bring to a boil, then cook on low for 1 hour until beans are soft. Then add ginger juice, salt, garlic, optional corn, mustard, olive oil, and cook 1/2 hour on simmer. Test to see if it's done (older beans take longer to cook). Beans are done when they easily smash on the back of a spoon. Make them soft for good digestion.

to make Ginger juice: grate ginger on a microplane, then squeeze it with your hand into the soup pot, about 1 Tbsp.

Bean soup recipes #3

Winter Stew with Kidney Beans

The grounding roots and protein from the beans make this a good winter stew.

1/2 cup kidney beans, soak overnight and discard soaking water

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tsp dried oregano

handful of kale leaves

1 beet, chopped coarsely

1 turnip, chopped coarsely

1/2 tsp sea salt

water to cover 1 inch

Put beans, garlic, onion, beet and turnip in big heavy soup pot, bring to a boil, then simmer. cook 2-3 hours, until beans are soft. Roots take longer to cook. Then add kale, oregano, salt, and cook 10 minutes or so. To serve, add a drizzle of flax or olive oil and a bit of sauerkratu or lemon juice.

Enjoy your warming soup!