8 Bean Medley Soup

Hello Friends,

Now that I am making more soups, I find them to be super easy and sometimes the best one pot meals once can have with whatever is there in the fridge or in pantry.

Let’s come to what I am blogging about today. As a vegetarian, dry whole beans/legumes are kind of staple in my family and many of yours too. And, what even better, almost all the beans give you a little of almost every nutrient you need in a day – Carbs, Protein, Fat, Vitamins and Minerals.

I made this soup with 8 different varieties of beans – Chickpeas, Whole Masoor (Red Lentils), Whole Moong, Whole Chawali (Brown Lentils), Black Eyed Peas, Whole Urad Dal (Black Lentils), Dry Matar (White Peas) and Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas). But, here is the thing, you can mix and match any kind of beans/legumes, even 2 or 3 mixed is fine, it doesn’t have to be 5 or 8 or 10 or 16. Just remember to go with all whole ones just so that they are all of same or similar texture. You don’t want one ingredient to get all mushy during the cooking process.

One cup of this soup will approximately give you 150 calories. Isn’t that great for a one pot meal. The measurements I used made about 8 servings of this soup.

8 Bean Medley Soup

Ingredients

Dry Beans washed & soaked overnight – 4 cups (Any Medley will do. I used the ones mentioned above) – you don’t have to make this much, go with a smaller quantity

Onion – 1 cup, chopped

Tomato – 1 cup, chopped

Garlic – 5-6 cloves (increase or decrease based on your taste)

Dry Spices – Any mix of spices will do (I added, Red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder)

Salt – per taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

Water – 6 cups

Preparation

• If you did not beans overnight, it is fine, you can still make it, but it will take longer to process
• Take a heavy bottomed pan (I used cooker) and heat it.
• Add oil and when heated, add garlic
• After a few seconds (once nice aroma comes, don’t let it burn), add chopped onions and fry.
• Once the onion is translucent (about 2 min.), add chopped tomatoes and all the spices (along with salt).
• After about 2 min, add the beans and water. Mix it well.
• Let it come to a boil and then reduce the gas to a simmer.
• Cover the lid (don’t lock the cooker, just put the lid). And let it simmer for about 1.5 – 2 hours. Keep mixing it every 5-10 min.
• Take it off the heat once the beans are cooked. Remember, we don’t want them mushy, but not raw either, so find your perfect balance.

Serving

Eat a cup of this soup with ½ a cup of rice or the best, 2 slices of whole wheat brown bread or simply on its own. I am sure any option you choose, you will love this hearty dish. It is very filling.

This is my contribution to Healthy Me & Healthy US event that I am hosting this month.

That’s all for now. Take care till next post.