Hearty Vegan Navy Bean Soup

Meghan's Note:

This is an excellent vegan recipe, its very hearty and flavorful. Don't write off this recipe for lack of meat, its really fab.

• Total Time: 3 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 cups navy beans
• 8 cups water
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or 3 tablespoons vegetable stock
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup celery leaves, and tender, inner stalks, chopped fine
• 1 cup cabbage
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash Tabasco sauce or 1 dash habanero sauce

Directions:

1. Wash and pick over beans.
2. Cover with water and soak overnight, or quick soak.
3. Discard soaking water, rinse beans and put in a large soup pot.
4. Add the 8 cups of water and bring to a boil.
5. Cover tightly and reduce heat to a low simmer.
6. Add carrots.
7. In a nonstick pan saute onion in balsamic vinegar until it caramelizes (this takes a while on low heat).
8. Add garlic, celery leaves, and cabbage.
9. Continue sautéing, adding more liquid as necessary.
10. When the mixture has cooked down somewhat, add it to the beans.
11. Simmer *very* slowly for 2 hours or until beans are tender, stirring occasionally.
12. Remove bay leaves and serve with hard bread and salad.

Reviews

[MLG]

This was a really delicious vegan soup. Its really hearty and filling. It always seems like there is a little something missing in soup stocks for vegan recipes, but the mix of spices really make this soup very flavorful. I couldnt stop eating it. Its great with warm foccacia bread too, FYI..

[emilyv]

I gave this recipe 4 stars because made some adjustments to the soup and the instructions leave out completely when to add the spices, etc. First, I added two cubes of vegan bouillon to the soup. Added a few splashes of good Marsala wine to the onion, garlic, celery mix. Once the soup was almost ready, added some fresh baby spinach and whole wheat macaroni. This was a delicious soup!

[Michael Keizer]

Very nice, and very filling. On my second try I did not cook the beans until tender but left them slightly "al dente", which I liked better. Freezes and reheats very well.