I love this bean soup especially in the winter when you need something to warm your soul! It comes together in no time once the beans are prepped overnight. I often make this mid-week after cooking all day for a client! I love to add kombu (sea vegetable) because it helps the beans to be more digestible. It also is an excellence source of iodine which is essential for thyroid health. If you have a sluggish thyroid, adding seaweed to your diet can help nourish your thyroid. It’s also loaded with nutritional goodies! It also tastes good believe it or not using a mixture of beef stock, chicken and vegetable stock. It gives it depth of flavor but I kept it strictly vegetarian/vegan in the recipe using vegetable stock. Please let me know in the comments below if you try it and how you liked it!
16 Bean Soup with Kale & Quinoa
The beans need to be soaked, so plan on this and soak them overnight for best results.
1 bag of dry 16 beans (soaked overnight)
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1-2 garlic cloves (grated)
1 bunch organic kale (stems removed and chopped)
1/4 cup of dry sherry (real sherry not the one in the supermarket)
2 tsp hot madras curry powder
1 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes (Redpack)
1 Strip of Kombu (Whole Foods or health food store – optional)
1-2 containers of vegetable stock (prefer saffron road or nature’s promise)
1 3” piece parmesan rind (leftover if you have)
Himalayan pink salt (to taste)
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 cups of cooked quinoa
Crushed Red Hot Pepper (to taste, at the table)
Rinse beans. Soak beans in enough water to cover beans about 3-4 inches over beans overnight. When you are ready to make the soup, drain and rinse the beans.
Sauté chopped onion, celery, carrots in extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes. Add grated garlic. Add beans, vegetable stock (add enough to cover the beans initially, may need more later if it gets totally absorbed), can of tomatoes, kombu and parmesan rind (if you have left over).
Bring to a boil, add curry powder, sherry and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add chopped kale. Season to your taste with Himalayan pink salt. Continue to cook until beans are done. Approximately another 10 minutes. Take out the piece of Kombu before serving.
Prepare the quinoa separately, according to package directions. Add quinoa in a bowl and ladle in soup, sprinkle with crushed hot pepper. Enjoy!
Note: adding Kombu (dry sea vegetable) to this soup would be an excellent source of iodine which is essential for thyroid health – it generally has no flavor and can be taken out after its done. Kombu has the ability to render beans more digestible and less gas-producing.