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Creamy Bean Soup

Don't you just love soup? A bowl of soup and a sandwich or a salad is my favorite quick meal.

Well, it’s quick when the soup is already made.

I used mung beans in this soup. I first came up with the idea for them about a year and a half ago. Mung beans are great, because like lentils you don't have to pre-soak them before cooking. Also, like lentils, they are easily digested, great to cook with and are packed with protein and nutrients.

What you need:
1 c dried mung beans, rinsed
14 oz organic vegetable broth
4 c water
2 tsp olive oil
1 c diced yellow onion
3 cloves diced garlic
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp coriander
2 pinches nutmeg
1/8 - 1/4 tsp red cayenne pepper
1 9 oz container frozen creamed spinach
1 8 oz container reduced fat cream cheese
Salt to taste

What you do:
Put rinsed beans in a large sauce pan and add broth and water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Don’t worry if the beans are a tad firmer than you’d like because we're going to cook them a little more later.
Cook the creamed spinach into the microwave for the prescribed time. My package called for 7 minutes of cook time.
Heat a small frying pan over medium and add olive oil. Cook the onions for 3 minutes. Then add garlic, all of the spices and cook for another 3 minutes.
Add the onion and garlic mixture, the creamed spinach and cream cheese to the bean pot and simmer for another 15 minutes.   Serve with a salad and crusty bread or a sandwich and you're all set.

The Veggie Chef offers recipes for vegetarians. Andrea Mattioni-Willis is a vegetarian herself and she loves to cook. She frequently experiments with new recipes and will share her findings with all of you.