My menu plan for Monday night required me to feed 20 for a church function. The only stipulation when serving is that it needs to be vegan-friendly because of allergies of some of the participants. I prepared the soup a day in advance because I didn't expect much time between work and the serving time. I was able to purchase the bread, lettuce, and cucumbers across the street and next door to my office, respectively.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I did it again. I ran from work home to reheat the soup in the Crock Pot and over to the church to get it served. Then some friends came that I hadn't seen in a while. And of course, Mom brought Nora over. So, I never got around to a picture of this pretty and tasty soup. I dipped my pinky-finger in as I was heating it up to make sure it had enough flavor, but didn't get a good taste. However, there were a number of people who had seconds. So, I think I'm safe in saying it was good.
Recipe for White Bean Vegetable Soup
4 inner stalks celery, including leaves
1 medium onion
4 small carrots, diced
4 slices jalapeno
2 bay leaves
1 T oil
1 T herbed salt
2 lbs. dry great northern beans (You could use any white bean, but I'm partial to Great Northern.)
Soak beans overnight and cook according to package directions. Add 2 bay leaves before you start the cooking process. When beans are nearly finished cooking, chop onion and celery in a food processor. Saute all produce in oil until carrots are soft.
Remove the bay leaves. In a blender, puree roughly 4 cups of beans and water. Return to pot and stir. Consider the thickness of the soup and how much puree you want. Add vegetable mixture and herb-salt to beans, reheating as necessary.
Serving suggestion: In deep plate, ladle soup over thick, hearty, multigrain (for color) bread and sprinkle with paprika.
Thanks to Leann Georgeson, our dear friend from Seattle, for this great recipe idea. She says it's a fine way to mix in lots of nutrients--even spinach--so her son, Jeremy, will eat it. I thought the recipe was smart for keeping burritos from being too boring, and it proves how easy it can be to make the filling go as far as it needs to for however many mouths you are feeding. When you run out of flour tortillas, you can just use the beans as a base for nachos.
Recipe for Bean Burritos
1 diced onion, sauteed
1 can refried beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can sweet corn (or frozen bag of equal portion)
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
Cook onions in a skillet first. Open the cans and add the ingredients, stirring until mixed and warmed through. Place in serving bowl and on dinner table with warmed tortillas to make burritos. Toppings may include but are not limited to, salsa, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salad greens, and black olives.
After a long plane ride home from Texas, we called my father to meet us at this restaurant. This visit was far superior to the previous one (not that the last one was horrible).
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