16 Bean Soup

So while in the grocery store a few days ago, I went down the international aisle and picked up some lentils, barley, green and yellow split peas, and a mixed bag called 16 bean soup. The back of the bag has a non-vegetarian recipe which included sausage, chicken bouillon, etc. But I googled 16 bean soup veggie and got a whole page of hits. I ended up using the below recipe which I found on a cool blog called Tofu and Cupcakes.

1 bag of dry 16 bean soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 vegetable bullion cubes
1 onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
salt and pepper to taste
water

1. Pick through and rinse dry beans. In a large pot cover with water ad let soak overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain in a colander and rinse (now is when you’ll see a lot of air bubbles coming off the beans, keep rinsing because you don’t want those air bubbles in your tummy, if you know what I’m sayin’).
2. Put the Beans in a large pot and cover with 4 quarts of water. Break “sausage” into bite-size pieces with your hands and add to pot. Add all other ingredients, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer stirring occasionally for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Remove bay leaves before serving.

This was delish! I have to say, I didn't put enough spices in the soup. I seem to be a bit hesitant on that side of things. Matt keeps telling me to just go for it, but I keep hearing this voice in my head say "you can always add more, but you can't take it back out" so I only put in a bit at a time.

I think I might split the recipe next time and add some turkey meatballs or sausage to half for Matt and Oliver and keep the other side veggie for me.

Warning! This soup is yummy, but beware how much you eat as it will fill you up faster and better than oatmeal!