Sixteen Bean Soup
I enjoy making a variety of bean soups but generally only use a single type of bean for each recipe. I have to admit, I often take the lazy approach and use canned beans which require no soaking and cook up quickly.
The other day, however, I picked up a package of Goya 16 Bean Soup Mix.
The name is a bit of a misnomer as the package actually contains nine different types of dried beans (Pinto, Small White, Small Red, Pink, Red Kidney, Great Northern, Baby Lima, Large Lima and Black), six types of peas (Green Split, Blackeye, Whole Green, Yellow Split, Chickpeas), lentils and barley. I was curious how a wide variety of beans would taste and whether they would have a consistent texture. The result was delicious!
Several companies offer similar products: Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix, Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup, or you could make your own combination with your favorite types of beans.
When using dried beans, it’s important to carefully go through the package to make certain that no small stones made it into the packaging. Dried beans should also be rinsed and soaked overnight. I put the pound of beans in a 4-cup measuring cup and covered them with water. The next morning the soaked beans had swollen to the top of the container, so be sure to give your beans plenty of room for expansion while soaking. One thing I noticed is that it was easy to peel off the skins from the soaked giant Lima beans. I just tossed the skins out.
I sautéed some vegetables and a link of linguica sausage, then let the beans cook in a chicken broth for a couple of hours. If you prefer, use vegetable broth or plain water - the soup is extremely flavorful. I used an immersion blender to purée about half of the soup which resulted in a nice thick texture. None of the sixteen “beans” gave an overpowering flavor but rather they all combined to make a deliciously hearty soup.
SIXTEEN BEAN SOUP
16 ounce bags of 16 bean soup mix (dried mixed beans)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 link Portuguese linguica sausage (12 to 16 ounces), thinly sliced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup bell pepper, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
12 cups chicken stock
8 oz. (small can) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (optional)
4 cups fresh spinach or kale, chopped (optional)
Rinse the beans and check for any little stones in the mix. Place the dried beans into a medium bowl, cover with water and let soak overnight.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot until shimmering. Sauté the linguica until lightly browned. Add the onions, bell peppers, carrot, celery and garlic and continue sautéing about 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft, but not browned.
Drain the beans, discarding any large loose pieces of skin from the larger beans. Add the beans to the pot, along with the stock, tomato sauce, cumin, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil then let the soup simmer, uncovered, for an hour.
Remove the cover, stir the soup and let it continue simmering for another hour until the beans are soft but not mushy. Purée about half of the soup, leaving some chunks of meat for texture.
Then, if you’re using cilantro and spinach or kale, add it to the pot and let the soup cook for an additional 15 minutes to soften the additional vegetables.
The soup may be served topped with a dollop of sour cream or some shredded cheese.