Kidney beans don't exactly set my heart on fire, but I usually have a can in the cupboard for use in chili con carne. Sometimes I only use half a can, and then I have to find something to do with the other half. I have a great recipe for a chicken, avocado and red kidney bean salad, but that needs prior planning due to the fanciful ingredients required. So the other day, with half a can of kidney beans and no avocado or chicken in the house, I decided to make soup instead. I searched the Internet for a kidney bean soup recipe and found lots on offer, all fairly similar. In the end I chose three recipes that I liked the sound of, and combined them to make my own version. The result was truly yummilicious, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.
Ingredients
(quantities are approximate)
1-2 tbs olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot
1 red chili (dried)
1 stick celery
1-2 large red peppers
A few fresh tomatoes
Tomato paste or passata
Red kidney beans
1-2 pints vegetable stock
1-2 bay leaves
Thyme
Parsley
Oregano or "Italian herb" seasoning
Salt & pepper
Instructions
Heat oil in a large pan. Stir in chopped onions, garlic and carrots.
Cover & sweat over low heat for a few minutes. Add finely chopped peppers and celery. Cook for a couple of minutes more.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste & kidney beans. Add chilies and herbs, mix well, cook for 3 to 5 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the stock, season with salt & pepper & bring to boil. Let it boil hard for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat & simmer for half an hour or so.
Once cooked, you can cool the soup and then blend it with a food processor. You could also serve it with a dollop of lime yoghurt (made by combining plain yoghurt, lime juice and finely chopped coriander). I prefer chunky soups and had no lime or coriander handy, so I had mine as it came out of the pan.
To say I was surprised by the result would be an understatement. Who would have thought that combining red pepper, red kidney beans, tomatoes and a few herbs you could get such a mouth-watering combination?
The recipes I used to create my version of red kidney soup are:
Chef2Chef Red Kidney Bean Soup
Allotment Growing Red pepper and kidney been soup
WHFoods Red Kidney Bean Soup with Lime Yoghurt
9 comments:
This looks and sounds delicious!
That been said, I'm having a huge avocado craving now!
Oh no! Is it because I mentioned avocados in my post??
I'm putting this on next week's menu! Thanks for doing the work for me!
I think I have tasted this somewhere Tinsie...I shall try this again...
I want to drink it though I know it is not possible :)
Kidney beans...hmmm. I'll think about it...
@ Karen: Any time! After all, I owe you for the yummy beef stew :-)
@ Cherry & Puss-in-Boots: It tastes much better than it sounds, honest!
@ Deepak: It was almost possible to drink it :-)
This is cool, I usually toss it in my salad and consume within two days ;D
Kidney beans are good in salad, but better in soup, I think.
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